US President Donald Trump Rules Out Complete Withdrawal Of American Troops From Afghanistan

United States President Donald Trump on Wednesday (21 August) indicated that he was not aiming for an absolute exit of the American forces from the Afghan soil, reports Livemint.

Trump, while briefing media persons in the Oval Office, said, "We will always have intelligence, and we'll always have somebody there." He then added that his administration has brought down the number of troops deployed in Afghanistan, but “we have to have a presence,”

The comment comes even as the Trump administration has been pushing its Special Envoy to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khaalilzad to push forward with the ongoing talks with the Taliban to secure a deal at the earliest. Khalilzad is now set to host another round of talks with the Talibani counterparts in Doha in Qatar.

Commenting on the ongoing talks with the Taliban, Trump said, "We have good talks going, and we'll see what happens. This is more than other Presidents have done."

Meanwhile, responding to a query on whether the situation in Afghanistan could be back to the time before 11 September 2001 attacks when Taliban was in complete and total control, the US President said, "Well, that's what we have to watch,"