The Telegraph
Nato members have pledged to leave Afghanistan “together” as 750 British soldiers are set to leave the country along with American troops on September 11. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made the comments over talks in Brussels, where he is joined by Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, Mr Blinken said: “We in Nato will leave Afghanistan together. “Together we went into Afghanistan, now it is time to bring our forces home.” Mr Blinken added that Nato will now work on a “withdrawal, adaptation plan”. Last night President Biden said that US forces would leave by September 11, marking 20 years to the day that the attacks on America took place. Some of the 2,500 US troops will withdraw over the coming months. The new date represents a five-month delay from the May 1 deadline agreed by President Biden's predecessor, Donald Trump, which he negotiated with the Taliban last year. While the Ministry of Defence are yet to confirm when British soldiers will be removed from Afghanistan, Tobias Ellwood, Chairman of the Defence Select Committee, said they had “have no choice” but to leave. He said the Americans “are the biggest contributor with significant force protection capabilities from which we benefitted. Remaining allied forces are unable to fill that vacuum without upgrading our posture for which there is no political appetite.” When Mr Ellwood addresses the Commons later, he will urge No 10 to read the signals of General Austin's visit to Brussels, where he announced he will be adding 500 more troops to Germany. "It reflects President Biden’s determination to utilise the EU to reinvigorate Western resolve in his determination to address global challenges," he will say. "General Austin’s public message is likely to be ‘Well done on the Integrated Review, we like the Global Britain thing and your investment in Special Forces, Cyber & Space resilience. "But in private he’s likely to say something very different ‘Your Navy is now too small, don’t cut your tanks, AFVs and ten thousand troops (we might be needing them sooner than you think). And definitely don’t reduce your F35 fleet from 136 to 48. Why - because the next decade is going to get bumpy and we need greater force presence." Postponing the US withdrawal carries the risk of the Taliban resuming attacks on US and coalition forces. In a statement last month, it threatened to resume hostilities against foreign troops in Afghanistan if they did not meet the May 1 deadline. However, the White House said that Mr Biden believed there was "not a military solution to Afghanistan, and that we have been there for far too long." It comes as civilian deaths in Afghanistan jumped 29 percent in the first quarter of the year amid increasing attacks in the war-torn nation, the United Nations said in a report. According to a UN report as many as 573 Afghan civilians were killed and 1,210 maimed. It said: “Of particular concern is the 37 percent increase in the number of women killed and injured, and a 23 per cent increase in child casualties compared with the first quarter of 2020.”