The Director of CIA, William Burns, told US lawmakers on Wednesday that the American departure from Afghanistan will leave a “significant risk” of terrorism resurgence in the region, according to a report published by the American-based news agency, ABC News.
The US spy chief made his assessment just hours before US President Biden made an announcement on US withdrawal from Afghanistan.
“Our ability to keep that threat in Afghanistan in check … has benefitted greatly from the presence of U.S. and coalition militaries on the ground,” Burns said as quoted by the US news agency.
On Wednesday, the US President announced that Washington would pull out all American forces from Afghanistan by September 11, 2021, before the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
Biden said the US had gone to Afghanistan to kill Bin Laden, the objective they achieved years ago.
Washington’s plan to pull troops out of Afghanistan followed a mixed reaction in Afghanistan. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said in a tweet that he discussed the US decision to withdraw troops from Afghanistan with President Biden and would respect the decision the White House has made. Ghani said his government would continue to work with the US and NATO nations in the next phase of the partnership.
Many others including the Afghan parliament speaker warned that a hasty US withdrawal would push the country into an unwanted bloody civil war and turn the country into a safe house for the international terrorists.
