James Anderson, the nominee to be the US deputy under secretary of defense for policy, told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday that if the Taliban continues its attacks on Afghan government forces, the US may have to reassess its scheduled withdrawal from the country, even though the militant group hasn’t attacked US forces.

“We’re going to reassess all the conditions going forward,” Anderson told lawmakers on Thursday, according to Air Force Magazine. “I would hope that the deal would not collapse. [The Taliban] have shown a commitment to at least part of it so far. And hopefully they will honor the remaining portions. If they don’t, then we’ll reassess, and we’ll do what we need to do.”
CNN reported the day prior that the US withdrawal was continuing at pace, with there now being fewer than 10,000 US troops in Afghanistan. The peace accord provided for reductions of US troops from roughly 12,000 to 8,600 over the 19 weeks following its signing. However, the Afghan government, which the Taliban has so far refused to recognize as legitimate, was excluded from those talks, and separate Taliban-Kabul talks were intended to begin after the March 1 accord was signed.
However, the US isn’t totally absent from the war: the US mission to rebuild Afghanistan has continued, providing support to the Afghan government and military, including vital funding that keeps the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces functioning.
“We remain committed to our Afghan partners,” Anderson said on Thursday. “They have paid a heavy price … They have in fact been doing most of the fighting since 2015 and we have been supporting them in our training, advise, and assist role. So, it is my view that going forward in Afghanistan, we absolutely need to continue to maintain a level of commitment in terms of our assistance to them so that they can continue to help defend their country.”