United States Security Contractors Withdrawn From Afghanistan, Taliban Is Rampant

United States military withdrawal illustration (Wikimedia Commons/US Army)

JAKARTA - US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed that the process of moving all security contractors working with the United States in Afghanistan is ongoing as the troop withdrawal is following President Joe Biden's instructions.

This statement made clear indications of a full-scale withdrawal of the armed forces of the Uncle Sam's country in Afghanistan, including the withdrawal of a security contractor funded by the United States.

"We will responsibly deploy all of our capabilities to which we are responsible and the contractors also fall within the region," explained Lloyd Austin when asked if the Pentagon had issued an order to withdraw not only American troops but also contractors.

However, Secretary of Defense Austin said the contractor could renegotiate its contract with the US Department of Defense in the future.

As of April, there were nearly 17,000 Pentagon contractors, including about 6,150 Americans, 4,300 Afghans, and 6,400 from other countries. Austin said the recall was progressing according to plan so far.

The departure of thousands of contractors, mainly those serving Afghan security forces, has raised concerns among some of Uncle Sam's country officials about the ability of the Afghan government and military to maintain critical functions.

After the withdrawal process began, Afghan security forces have been caught in daily fighting with the Taliban, who have been waging a war to overthrow a foreign-backed government since the Taliban pulled out of power in 2011.

In just two days, the Taliban took over a second district in the northern province of Baghlan on Thursday. The Afghan government, says the Taliban have killed and wounded more than 50 soldiers in attacks in at least 26 provinces over the past 24 hours, while its forces killed dozens of Taliban in the same period.

Meanwhile, United States Military Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley said there had been a continuing level of violent attacks against Afghan security forces, but no attacks on US troops and coalition forces since May 1.

Milley said it was too early to speculate about how Afghanistan would turn out after its troop withdrawal, given that Afghanistan has a huge military and police force and the Afghan government is still cohesive.

"It is not a foregone conclusion, in my professional military forecast, that the Taliban automatically wins and Kabul falls or some other bad prediction," Milley said.