US not to change Afghan withdrawal plan: Report

‘Concerted air campaign is unlikely to change the inroads the Taliban have made,’ says unnamed senior US official

Despite the Taliban capturing more cities in Afghanistan, US President Joe Biden will continue with his plans to withdraw American troops from the country, a report said Sunday.

The New York Times report, titled “Biden is not changing the US withdrawal plan, officials say,” cites unnamed senior officials as saying that the White House is not considering revising its Afghanistan plan.

“At the Pentagon, where senior leaders have reluctantly cut off most military support to Afghanistan, officials were on phone calls Sunday about the unfolding events around Kunduz, a northern Afghanistan city of some 350,000 that the United States has twice in the past intervened to retake from the Taliban.

“But defense officials said there were no plans to take action beyond a series of limited airstrikes, similar to what the United States has done in response to Taliban advances over the past three weeks,” the newspaper said.

“One official acknowledged that with only 650 American troops remaining on the ground in Afghanistan, a concerted air campaign is unlikely to change the inroads the Taliban has made,” it added.

The war between the Taliban and Afghan forces has intensified as foreign troops withdraw from the war-torn country by Sept. 11.

The Taliban are now trying to seize provincial capitals after taking smaller administrative districts in the past weeks.