US says Afghanistan withdrawal up to 25% complete: military

WASHINGTON

The process to fully withdraw all US service members from Afghanistan is up to 25% complete ahead of a September deadline, Central Command (CENTCOM) announced on Tuesday.

The military gave a range between 16 - 25% completion, noting 160 C-17 military cargo plane loads worth of material have been sent out of the country while more than 10,000 pieces of equipment have been marked for destruction.

The US is refraining from giving an exact percentage of the withdrawal process for security concerns.

The number of facilities handed over to Afghan forces remain unchanged from last week, with the total continuing to stand at five.

US President Joe Biden set a Sept. 11 deadline for all American forces to be withdrawn from Afghanistan, bringing a close to a 20-year war that has cost Washington $2.2 trillion and resulted in about 2,400 military deaths, according to the Costs of War Project at Brown University.

CENTCOM said it expects to provide weekly updates on progress toward meeting the president's goal.