<p class="bodytext">President Donald Trump said Wednesday he wants all US troops to leave Afghanistan by Christmas, speeding up the timeline for ending America's longest war.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"We should have the small remaining number of our BRAVE Men and Women serving in Afghanistan home by Christmas!" Trump wrote on Twitter.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In a February 29 agreement reached in Qatar with the Taliban, the United States promised to pull out all its troops by mid-2021 in return for insurgents' promises not to allow Afghanistan to be used by extremists.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The Taliban have since opened talks in Doha with the Afghan government, but the meetings have immediately stalled as the hardline Sunni rebels insist on their form of Islamic jurisprudence.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Trump's promise comes one month before US elections in which the president, trailing in the polls, has sought to show that he is making good on his promise to draw a close to "endless wars."</p>.<p class="bodytext">After 19 years of US military operations his stance enjoys wide support, with Democratic rival Joe Biden -- a critic during his time as vice president of further US involvement in Afghanistan -- also backing a withdrawal.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The United States first intervened in Afghanistan following the September 11, 2001 attacks and dislodged the Taliban regime, which had welcomed Al-Qaeda.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But in the years since the resurgent militants have launched a fresh battle to topple the US-backed government in Kabul, with civilians bearing the brunt of spiraling violence since NATO combat troops withdrew in 2014.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Trump has already reduced US forces in Afghanistan to around 8,600 and the Taliban has stood by promises not to attack Western troops -- even as the militants continue their bloody campaign against government forces.</p>
<p class="bodytext">President Donald Trump said Wednesday he wants all US troops to leave Afghanistan by Christmas, speeding up the timeline for ending America's longest war.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"We should have the small remaining number of our BRAVE Men and Women serving in Afghanistan home by Christmas!" Trump wrote on Twitter.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In a February 29 agreement reached in Qatar with the Taliban, the United States promised to pull out all its troops by mid-2021 in return for insurgents' promises not to allow Afghanistan to be used by extremists.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The Taliban have since opened talks in Doha with the Afghan government, but the meetings have immediately stalled as the hardline Sunni rebels insist on their form of Islamic jurisprudence.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Trump's promise comes one month before US elections in which the president, trailing in the polls, has sought to show that he is making good on his promise to draw a close to "endless wars."</p>.<p class="bodytext">After 19 years of US military operations his stance enjoys wide support, with Democratic rival Joe Biden -- a critic during his time as vice president of further US involvement in Afghanistan -- also backing a withdrawal.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The United States first intervened in Afghanistan following the September 11, 2001 attacks and dislodged the Taliban regime, which had welcomed Al-Qaeda.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But in the years since the resurgent militants have launched a fresh battle to topple the US-backed government in Kabul, with civilians bearing the brunt of spiraling violence since NATO combat troops withdrew in 2014.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Trump has already reduced US forces in Afghanistan to around 8,600 and the Taliban has stood by promises not to attack Western troops -- even as the militants continue their bloody campaign against government forces.</p>