NATO forces are likely to withdraw from Afghanistan in September, reports AFP quoting German Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer. “We always said: we’ll go in together, we’ll leave together,” she said on Wednesday. Her statement comes after a US official on Tuesday said that President Joe Biden had reached the conclusion to end Washington’s two-decade involvement in Afghanistan by September.

“I am for an orderly withdrawal and that is why I assume that we (NATO) will agree to that today,” Kramp-Karrenbauer added. NATO defence and foreign ministers will hold a video conference on the matter on Wednesday.

Notably, US President Joe Biden will remove all US troops from Afghanistan before this year’s 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, a US official told AFP on Tuesday.  

Biden will make an announcement Wednesday that all US forces, in coordination with those of Western allies, will leave other than limited personnel to guard US diplomatic installations, the official said.

Also read: Taliban, Al-Qaeda, ISIS: Challenges before Afghanistan post US exit

According to a report by Reuters, Germany has contributed around 1,100 soldiers to NATO’s mission, which numbers 9,600 personnel in total, training and assisting Afghan forces. The US has some 2,500 troops in Afghanistan.

The previous Donald Trump administration was also in the favour of a withdrawal and had signed a deal with the Taliban in February 2020. According to that deal, all US troops would be withdrawn from the country by May 2021. The insurgents’ promised that they will back Al-Qaeda and other extremists -– the original reason for the 2001 invasion.