The Afghan government and security forces face an uncertain future and in the worst-case scenario some bad possible outcome awaits the country, a top US military officer told CNN on Sunday.
Gen. Mark Milley, who is a veteran of the US war in Afghanistan, said the Afghan government will face a possible bad fate if the peace talks do not yearn the desired outcome for Afghanistan.
“I think there’s a range of scenarios here, a range of outcomes, [and] a range of possibilities; on the one hand, you get some really dramatic, bad possible outcomes. On the other hand, you get a military that stays together and a government that stays together,” Milley was quoted as saying by an American news agency.
The top US military officer underlined that they “frankly” did not know what one of the options become reality. “We have to wait and see how things develop over the summer.”
He expressed hope that there is still the possibility of a negotiated political settlement between the Afghan government and the Taliban insurgency—something the US general termed as the only hindrance of a “massive civil war.”
On April 14, US President Biden announced that all US troops would leave Afghanistan by September 11 this year. Following the Biden announcement, top US diplomats visited Kabul to assure the Afghan government that the United States would continue to support the Afghan government and Afghan security forces.
Yesterday, the US forces officially began a phased withdrawal from Afghanistan. Milley said that withdrawal might finish before September 11, a date set by the Biden administration.
