U.S. troops begin leaving Afghanistan

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A U.S. military helicopter in Kabul, Afghanistan Associated Press (file)

About 4,400 of the United States’ 13,000 troops in Afghanistan have started to leave, the military said Tuesday. A Feb. 29 deal with the Taliban gives the United States the next 135 days to pull out its troops in a bid to end the 18-year war.

Is the deal still on track? On Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo lauded Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s plan to allow the release of some Taliban prisoners. But rifts remain: In February, an Afghan soldier gunned down two U.S. fighters and injured six others after an argument.

Dig deeper: Read Lynde Langdon’s report in The Sift on the political dispute that could also threaten the deal.

Editor’s note: WORLD has updated this report from its original posting.

Onize Ohikere

Onize is WORLD’s Africa reporter and deputy global desk chief. She is a World Journalism Institute graduate and earned a journalism degree from Minnesota State University–Moorhead. Onize resides in Abuja, Nigeria.

@onize_ohiks