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Months afterPresident Joe Bidenannounced theend of a decades-long U.S. military presence in Afghanistan, his administration is planning to send 3,000 additional troops to the country.
The Associated Pressreports that the Biden administration is “rushing” troops into Afghanistan to assist in a partial evacuation of the U.S. Embassy in Kabul as the Taliban continues to gain control across the country, seizing cities like Kandahar, Firoz Koh and Herat.
Despite the partial evacuation, the embassy will continue to function in Kabul, the State Department said.
“This is not abandonment. This is not an evacuation. This is not a wholesale withdrawal,” State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters Thursday. “What this is is a reduction in the size of our civilian footprint.”
The decision to send in thousands of troops comes after the Taliban seized over a dozen provincial capitals in just the past week, outlets includingTheNew York Timesreport. The group, which ruled Afghanistan in 1996 until the invasion of U.S. forces post-9/11, is now in control of more than two-thirds of the country.
According to the AP, the partial embassy evacuation coupled with the rapid Taliban gains has “increasingly isolated” Kabul, where millions of citizens live.
“We have said from the beginning that the United States will be a committed partner to the people of Afghanistan, and you can measure that in any number of ways,” he said.
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“It is time for American troops to come home,” Biden said duringa speech from the White Housein April. “We cannot continue the cycle of extending or expanding our military presence in Afghanistan hoping to create the ideal conditions for our withdrawal, expecting a different result.”
source: people.com
