The top US general in Afghanistan stepped down from his post on Monday as the US military's withdrawal from the country nears completion, reports said.
Gen. Austin S. Miller officially ended his almost three-year term as commander at a ceremony at US and NATO military headquarters in Kabul, The New York Times reported.
"It's important to me to say farewell," Miller said, the news outlet reported.
Rear Adm. Peter G. Vasely, a former member of SEAL Team 6 who leads the Special Operations Joint Task Force-Afghanistan, will now report to Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., the head of the US Central Command in Tampa, Florida, The Times reported.
Together they are expected to fulfill Miller's duties.
President Joe Biden has ordered US forces to withdraw from Afghanistan by the end of August, marking the end of America's longest war.
Miller's departure marks a symbolic end to US involvement in the almost 20-year conflict, which began with the US invasion in October 2001 following the 9/11 terror attacks.
Supporters of Biden's Afghanistan withdrawal have said it's long overdue, contending that the risks of keeping US troops in the country far outweigh any potential benefits. Meanwhile, critics of the pullout said it's emboldened the Taliban and represents a hasty and disastrous retreat.
The Taliban last week said it now controls 85% of the country, and there are serious questions as to whether the Afghan government and the military and police forces that the US spent billions training can maintain control after the US fully departs.
In a forceful speech on Thursday, Biden fervently defended the withdrawal from Afghanistan.
"As I said in April, the United States did what we went to do in Afghanistan: to get the terrorists who attacked us on 9/11 and to deliver justice to Osama Bin Laden, and to degrade the terrorist threat to keep Afghanistan from becoming a base from which attacks could be continued against the United States," Biden said. "We achieved those objectives. That's why we went."
"Let me ask those who wanted us to stay: How many more — how many thousands more of America's daughters and sons are you willing to risk? How long would you have them stay?" Biden added.
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