The Taliban is warning that US troops in Afghanistan will be hit with new attacks — now that the May 1 withdrawal deadline promised last year by President Trump has passed.
Afghan security personnel gather at the site of bomb explosion in Kabul, Afghanistan on Feb. 26, 2020. AP Photo/Rahmat GulThe insurgent group’s fighters will “take every counteraction it deems appropriate against the occupying forces,” a Taliban spokesman tweeted Saturday.
Chinook helicopters fly over the Paktia’s mountains province near Khost. AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti, FileSecurity checkpoints were tightened in Kabul and other cities, and military patrols were stepped up on their streets, according to reports.
US soldiers, part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force patrol west of Kabul, Afghanistan. AP Photo/Hoshang Hashimi, FileThe warning came on May 1, the date that Trump and Taliban leaders had agreed on as the end of the two-decade American military presence in the strife-torn nation.
Taliban forces suspended assaults on coalition forces after signing a peace agreement that specified the withdrawal date last February.
A NATO armored vehicle patrols inside a US military base in Kandahar on April 29, 2021. JAVED TANVEER/AFP via Getty ImagesBut President Biden extended the deadline, pledging instead to pull US troops out by Sept. 11.
A vacated US military base at Kandahar International Airport on April 29, 2021. JAVED TANVEER/AFP via Getty Images