Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) – The US President Trump’s order to further reduce the US military contingent in Afghanistan continues to cause heated discussions in the American political establishment.

According to The Hill, the US Congress has submitted a National Defense Budget Bill for 2021, according to which the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan could be blocked. At the same time, the blocking of funding for the further reduction of troops in Afghanistan will remain until the Pentagon and the State Department substantiate the compliance of this decision with American national interests and provide information about its impact on the country’s security, counterterrorism mission and the preservation of democratic achievements in Afghanistan.

Donald Trump, who in mid-November instructed to take a course to reduce the number of troops in Afghanistan from 4.5 to 2.5 thousand, said that he intends to veto this bill.

It should be noted that the withdrawal of American military forces from Afghanistan is carried out in accordance with the agreement between the United States and the Taliban from 29 February 2020, which secures the conditional nature of this process. However, foreign experts point to the absence of favorable conditions in Afghanistan for the reduction of the American contingent.

First, the Taliban are escalating violence in the country, which is contrary to the agreements with the United States. Thus, according to the Ministry of Defense of Afghanistan, in recent weeks, the Taliban has been carrying out attacks on the positions of the Afghan security forces, which are in the "active defense" mode, in more than 20 provinces of the country, which "has become a stable trend." At the same time, according to "Tolo news", as a result of military actions of the Taliban over the past month, 134 Afghans were killed.

In this regard, US Secretary of State M. Pompeo said that the level of violence in Afghanistan is "unacceptably high", calling on the parties to de-escalate the situation. The international community also expresses grave concern in this regard.

On the eve of the diplomatic missions of 12 European countries, the United States, the EU and NATO in Kabul issued a joint statement, in which they accused "Taliban and various terrorist organizations in a significant number of civilian casualties, which is also an attempt on the peace process in Afghanistan."

Second, the Taliban maintains close ties with al-Qaeda, providing the terrorist organization with “protection and cover”. In this context, the Long War Journal reported that over the past 5 days, the US military forces and the government of Afghanistan conducted 2 counter-terrorism raids in Helmand and Nimroz provinces, as a result of which 8 al-Qaeda members were eliminated and 3 militants of the group were detained.

A special operation in Helmand was directed against a group of "jihadists holding a secret meeting", among whom were members of the Taliban. One of those killed was the shadow governor of Farah province A. Baloj, who "led both the Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters." In this regard, Taliban accused the United States of violating the US-Taliban agreement, in particular, in air strikes against the Movement’s positions in Helmand. US officials confirmed the airstrike, noting that it did not contradict the deal.

Thirdly, international terrorist organizations continue to operate in the country, posing a threat not only to the Afghan peace process, but to regional and global security. According to experts, the branch of the Islamic State in Afghanistan retains its serious destabilizing potential, as evidenced by the group’s recent high-profile terrorist attacks aimed at undermining the political settlement process in Afghanistan (an attack on Kabul University, rocket attacks on the diplomatic corps in Kabul in November 2020).

In general, according to experts, the forced withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan in accordance with Donald Trump’s order is meeting with resistance from the US political establishment, concerned about the negative consequences of this process both on the development of the situation in Afghanistan and on the country’s national security.