US President Donald Trump is expected to announce a further reduction in American troops in Afghanistan in the coming days.
A senior administration official told reporters late Tuesday that Trump will first announce a drawdown of troops from Iraq on Wednesday and in a few days he will make the announcement on Afghanistan, Reuters reported.
Following a recent withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, the numbers are now down to 8,600 but recent comments by senior officials indicate Trump will reduce the number of troops to between 4,000 and 5,000 by end November.
The Pentagon said in August that its goal was to get down to fewer than 5,000 troops as per an agreement signed between the US and the Taliban in February.
Trump also stated in an interview with Axios that the White House aimed to reach 4,000 to 5,000 troops in Afghanistan by the November presidential election.
Under the US-Taliban deal, all foreign troops must leave the country by the spring of 2021, in exchange for security commitments from the militants.
Trump, who is trailing Democratic rival Joe Biden in the polls ahead of the November 3 election, has previously promised to bring troops home in a bid to end what he has called America’s endless wars.
