Afghanistan: Biden to call for end to 'America's longest war'

The US will continue to support Afghanistan after withdrawing all US troops, but not "militarily," President Joe Biden, has confirmed.

US and Nato officials have said the Taliban, a hardline Islamist movement, have so far failed to live up to commitments to reduce violence in Afghanistan.

In Kabul, Afghan officials say they will continue peace talks in preparation for the withdrawal.

"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," Mr Biden, the fourth president to oversee the war, will say in his speech.

Mr Biden will also pledge to continue providing assistance to Afghan defence and security forces - including 300,000 personnel, who he says "continue to fight valiantly on behalf of their country and defend the Afghan people, at great cost".

The deal signed in February 2020 said the US and its Nato allies would withdraw all troops by May 2021 if the Taliban upheld its promises, including not allowing al-Qaeda or other militants to operate in areas it controlled and proceeding with national peace talks.

Last month, the Taliban threatened to resume hostilities against foreign troops still in the country on 1 May.

Abdullah Abdullah, head of the nation's High Council for National Reconciliation, said on Wednesday that the news of foreign troops withdrawing means "we need to find a way to co-exist", Reuters news agency reported.

Mohammad Askar, a resident of Mazar-e Sharif in northern Afghanistan, said: "If American troops want to leave Afghanistan they should do so with a plan.

December 2009: US President Barack Obama decides to boost US troop numbers in Afghanistan by 30,000, bringing total to 100,000

March 2015: President Obama announces his country will delay its troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, following a request from President Ashraf Ghani

October 2015: President Obama announces that 9,800 US troops will remain in Afghanistan until the end of 2016, backtracking on an earlier pledge to pull all but 1,000 troops from the country

July 2016: President Obama says 8,400 US troops will remain in Afghanistan into 2017 in light of the "precarious security situation"

August 2017: US President Donald Trump says he's sending more troops to fight a resurgent Taliban

UK troops likely to leave Afghanistan by September

A 'moonshot' plan for peace in Afghanistan

"It is time for American troops to come home," says Joe Biden, the fourth president to oversee the war