US military: Afghanistan withdrawal up to 12 percent complete
By Ellen Mitchell - 05/11/21 08:17 PM EDT
The U.S. military’s withdrawal from Afghanistan is 6 percent to 12 percent finished, but officials are keeping under wraps the total number of troops still there, the Pentagon’s top spokesperson said Tuesday.
Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said the hidden figures are meant to protect troops from possible Taliban attack as the United States wraps up its longest-running conflict.
“[U.S. Central Command] has expressed a concern about the release of personnel figures specifically given that we have to assume, and we are still assuming, that this drawdown could be opposed by the Taliban,” Kirby told reporters at the Pentagon.
Since May 1, U.S. forces in Afghanistan have shipped approximately 104 C-17 loads of equipment out of the country, turned over more than 1,800 pieces of equipment to the Defense Logistics Agency to destroy, and officially handed over one facility to the Afghan National Army, Centcom said in a statement Tuesday.
The effort began after President Biden in April ordered all U.S. troops to be out of Afghanistan by Sept. 11, the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks that sparked the conflict.
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https://thehill.com/policy/defense/553013-us-military-afghanistan-withdrawal-up-to-12-percent-complete
