"Hard to meet" deadline to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan: Biden

U.S. President Joe Biden said on Thursday that it would be hard for the United States to meet the May 1 deadline to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan, reported Xinhua.

"It's gonna be hard to meet the May 1 deadline in terms of tactical reasons, hard to get those troops out," Biden told reporters in his first formal press conference since taking office.

Biden said that the United States is in consultation with U.S. allies on this issue, adding that the withdrawal would be in "a safe and orderly way."

"It is not my intention to stay there for a long time, the question is how and what circumstance do we meet that agreement that was made by President (Donald) Trump," he continued.

"But we are not staying a long time," he said. "We will leave, the question is when we leave."

When asked if the United States will have troops in Afghanistan next year, Biden replied, "I can't picture that being the case."

Adam Smith, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, suggested Wednesday that withdrawing all U.S. forces from Afghanistan by the May 1 deadline is "too soon" due to logistics reasons.

"You cannot pull out 10,000 plus troops in any sort of reasonable way in six weeks," said the Democrat.

U.S. media reported last week that Biden was considering a six-month extension for U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

The Pentagon said that there are roughly 2,500 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, but U.S. media recently said the number did not include 1,000 more U.S. special forces in the country.

Besides, about 7,000 NATO troops in Afghanistan rely on U.S. logistics and security support.

The war in Afghanistan, which has caused about 2,400 U.S. military deaths, is the longest one in U.S. history.

The United States and the Afghan Taliban signed an agreement in late February 2020, which called for a full withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan by May 2021 if the Taliban meets the conditions of the deal, including severing ties with terrorist groups.

The Biden administration had noted that the Taliban had not met its commitment under the U.S.-Taliban deal.