US “well-positioned” to begin withdrawing troops from Afghanistan in July: Gates
March 8th, 2011 - 1:18 pm ICT by ANI
Washington, Mar 8 (ANI): US defence secretary, Robert Gates, has said that his country is “well-positioned” to begin withdrawing troops from Afghanistan in July.
Gates made his comments during an unannounced visit to the Afghan capital Kabul, where he is reportedly discussing the future of US involvement in the war-torn country, the BBC reports.
Gates was speaking along with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who later this month is expected to announce the schedule for the handover of security responsibility from foreign forces to Afghans.
Gates, however, did not indicate how many of the 97,000 US forces in the country would be withdrawn.
Last Monday, he had told troops at Bagram airbase that both the US and Afghan governments agree that the US should remain involved even after 2014, when the withdrawal of troops is scheduled to be completed.
“Obviously it would be a small fraction of the presence that we have today, but I think we’re willing to do that,” he had said.
During his latest visit to Kabul, Gates also apologised for a NATO air strike that killed nine Afghan boys over the weekend. His apology came just a day after Afghan President Hamid Karzai rejected an apology from General David Petraeus, the US commander of foreign troops in Afghanistan.
Earlier, US President Barack Obama had also apologised for the killings of the boys, describing it as a “tragic accident”. He also added that civilian deaths were the main cause of a souring relationship between Kabul and Washington.
On Sunday, hundreds of Afghans had rallied to protest against the killings, and condemned both NATO and the Taliban for killing civilians. (ANI)
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