Trump ‘Evaluating’ Pullout of Troops from Afghanistan: Pence

Amid reports of a possible drawdown in the U.S. forces in Afghanistan, the U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said that the Trump administration “is in the process of evaluating” whether to remove troops from the war-torn country.

Speaking in an interview with Fox News, Pence vowed that the military’s withdrawal from Syria will be conducted in an “orderly fashion.”

Asked whether Trump would similarly pursue an Afghanistan withdrawal, as he has reportedly been debating, Pence said only that the idea was under active consideration.

“Well, the president is in the process of evaluating that, as we speak,” Pence said. “I was in Afghanistan last year. In his speech in August, President Trump, basically through new rules of engagement, new resources, additional military personnel, gave our folks on the ground the ability to take the fight, be at the tip of the spear, supporting the Afghan National Army in the battle against the Taliban, ISIS, Khorasan, Al Qaeda, re-emerging in Afghanistan.”

This comes a day after the U.S. President Trump in his cabinet meeting justified the soviet union’s ten-year invasion of Afghanistan which led the Afghan government to react in this regard.

In a statement, the President Palace has urged Washington to provide an explanation regarding Trump’s recent remarks.