Afghanistan troop withdrawal delayed

President Joe Biden has decided to leave U.S. troops in Afghanistan beyond the May 1 deadline, the timeline that the Trump administration negotiated with the Taliban. Biden’s new goal is to pull soldiers out before the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks later this year.

What does that mean for Afghanistan? According to multiple reports citing administrative officials, the withdrawal will not be based on conditions. U.S. troops will depart regardless of the situation on the ground. Those reports drew sharp criticism from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who said such a move would abandon local and international allies, as well as Afghan women, whose “individual freedoms and human rights will be in peril.” McConnell and some other top Republicans also criticized former President Donald Trump’s plans to remove U.S. troops from Afghanistan this year.

Dig deeper: Read Onize Ohikere’s report in World Tour about the situation on the ground in Afghanistan during last year’s peace talks.