White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki assured that the withdrawal schedule will not change and confirmed Afghan President Ashraf Ghani´s visit to Washington coming Friday.

Ghani’s visit to the States happens together with the final phase of 2,500 US and 7,000 NATO troops withdrawal from Afghanistan, a process that began on May 1 and is slated to conclude in September.

President Joe Biden announced the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan in mid-April, nearly two decades after his involvement in that country in an alleged crusade against terrorism.

Since the withdrawal announcement, the media have been reporting that the Taliban movement took control of over 50 communities and has under its power 118 of the 407 districts of the country, while other 190 are in dispute.

According to Jen Psaki, both events are not directly related, because if the United States did not begin the withdrawal, violence against foreign troops would also have increased.

pgh/Pll/mem / avr