US military 'days away' from completing pull-out from Afghanistan

The US military could complete its withdrawal from Afghanistan within days, reports say, amid increasing Taliban battlefield gains.

US officials said that some US forces were expected to stay to protect the US embassy and Kabul airport, reports the BBC citing Reuters.

The reports came as a top US commander warned the country risked sliding into civil war as the last US troops leave.

Fighting has surged since the US began withdrawing last month, with the Taliban seizing swathes of territory.

CNN quoted US officials corroborating the Reuters report. "This week could be a critical week in the withdrawal and end of the retrograde process," an unnamed defence official told the network.

About 650 US troops are expected to remain to help secure the US embassy in Kabul, and several hundred more may be stationed at the city's airport.

President Biden has set a deadline of 11 September for US troops to fully withdraw. But recent reports had suggested most of the more than 4,000 troops deployed in recent months would be out by mid-July, well ahead of time.

The pace of the pull-out now appears even faster.

On Tuesday, Gen Scott Miller said Afghanistan could face "very hard times" if its leadership is unable to unite once international troops leave.

The warning from the commander of the US-led mission in Afghanistan came just days after the UN warned of "dire scenarios" as the Taliban took hold of many districts.

It said insurgents had taken more than 50 of 370 districts since May, encircling many cities and closing in on the capital Kabul.

"The security situation is not good right now," Gen Miller said in a rare news conference.

"Civil war is certainly a path that can be visualised if this continues on the trajectory it's on right now," he added. "That should be a concern to the world."

He accused the Taliban of failing to reduce violence in line with an agreement it struck with the US.

The militant group claims to have recently captured more than 100 districts across Afghanistan - something experts tie to the lack of US air support to Afghan forces.

But Gen Miller did not rule out the US using air strikes against the Taliban.