US senator backs extension of troop pullout deadline

KABUL (Pajhwok): An influential American lawmaker has supported an extension of the May 1 deadline for withdrawing US troops from Afghanistan

Senator Jack Reed opposed the deadline for the troop drawdown that the administration of former president Donald Trump and the Taliban set in their peace agreement last year.

The New York Times quoted Reed as saying the United States should seek an extension of the deadline to give diplomats the time they needed to negotiate a deal between the Taliban and the government in Kabul.

The Democrat told reporters on a video conference call arranged by George Washington University: “To pull out within several months now is a very challenging and destabilising effort.”

Reed added: “I would expect some extension”, even if that meant a longer time for the United States to pull out the 2,500 troops it has in Afghanistan.

Preventing terrorist groups, such as al-Qaeda and Daesh, from using Afghanistan as a safe haven, should be a top American national security priority, the legislator stressed.

“We’ve got to be able to assure the world and the American public that Afghanistan will not be a source of planning, plotting to project terrorist attacks around the globe,” Reed maintained.

PAN Monitor/mud

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