Joe Biden authorized on Saturday an additional 1,000 US troops for deployment to Afghanistan, raising to roughly 5,000 the number of US troops to ensure what Biden called an “orderly and safe drawdown” of American and allied personnel.
US troops will also help in the evacuation of Afghans who worked with the military during the nearly two-decade war.
The last-minute decision to re-insert thousands of US troops into Afghanistan reflected the dire state of security as the Taliban seized control of multiple Afghan cities in a few short days. The need for more forces also called into question whether Biden would meet his August 31 deadline for fully withdrawing combat forces.
