Washington, Mr 8(UNI) The United States announced on Monday that it has made no decision yet about its military commitment in Afghanistan over a May 1 deadline for pulling out its remaining 2,500 troops from the country.
The Department of State’s comments came after reports emerged that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had made an urgent push for peace efforts in a letter to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani which was published on Sunday.
Senior Afghan officials confirmed that the letter, was sent to Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah, chairman of the peace council, and was discussed with Afghan leaders by US peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad during his visit to Kabul last week, Al Jazeera reported.
A US state department spokeswoman said on Sunday Washington has “not made any decisions about our force posture in Afghanistan after May 1”, adding that “All options remain on the table,” she said.
According to the letter, Blinken said the US is pursuing high-level diplomatic efforts “to move matters more fundamentally and quickly toward a settlement and a permanent and comprehensive ceasefire” and that the US military was considering exiting Afghanistan by May 1.
UNI XC ACL1840