Joe Biden administration: Removal of US troops from Afghanistan will be orderly

State Department Spokesperson Ned Price on Tuesday said Afghanistan can never again become a platform for terrorist attacks that would threaten the US or its allies

“President (Joe) Biden has been clear that he wants to see an end to our military presence in Afghanistan.

As he has said, as Secretary (of State, Tony) Blinken has said, as (Defense) Secretary (Lloyd) Austin has said, as others have said, we are committed to bringing a

responsible end to the conflict, removing our troops from harm’s way, and ensuring…importantly, that Afghanistan can never again become a platform, a launch pad, for terrorist attacks that would threaten the US or our allies,” he told reporters at his daily news conference.

The recently-held NATO ministerial in Brussels there was an agreement on this issue and also on the path forward when it comes to Afghanistan, he said.

“The international community is similarly united in the belief that there isn’t a military solution to what we have long faced in Afghanistan. It’s a conflict that has to end through a political solution and a comprehensive ceasefire, processes that are at their core Afghan-owned and Afghan-led,” Price asserted.

At the same time, he conceded there was no update in terms of where the president may be thinking of post May 1 when the agreement with the Taliban inked by the previous Trump administration meets the deadline of withdrawal of troops. Biden has ruled out withdrawal of US troops by May 1.