KABUL – Foreign forces have started vaccating a number of bases inAfghanistan, top military NATO commander said on Sunday.

“We have started withdrawing from a number of bases… Even if Afghanistanhas access to a peace agreement, we have been told to leave,” Commander ofthe NATO Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan Gen. Austin Scott Millerwas quoted by Sputnik as saying at a press conference.

Last week, the alliance declared that member states were scheduled to beginan orderly withdrawal from Afghanistan by May 1, planning to complete itwithin a few months. The United States intends to complete the pullout bySeptember 11, on the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

Under the terms of the previous US-Taliban agreement, signed in Doha bythen-President Donald Trump, the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, inexchange for the Taliban’s commitment not to host terrorist forces in thecountry that could threaten US national security, was supposed to beeffectuated on 1 May. However, new President Biden admitted that meetingthe original deadline could be “tough”.

The drawdown has raised fears of intensification in the war between Afghangovernment forces and the Taliban insurgency in the conflict-torn nation,which shares about 2,600-kilometers of border with Pakistan, because thetwo adversaries have failed to reach a peace deal after months of talks.

Despite the launch of peace talks between the movement and Kabul in Qatar’sDoha last September, clashes between the Taliban and the Afghan militarystill continue to rock the country.