Nearly a year after the last American soldier left the country on his orders - and the Washington-backed administration in Kabul melted away before the Taliban - US President Joe Biden informed Congress that he will formally remove Afghanistan's status as a "Major Non-NATO Ally."

The White House reported that Biden informed the US House of Representatives and Senate in writing of his intention to revoke Afghanistan's status. When the adjustment would go into effect was unclear.

Former US President Barack Obama first declared Afghanistan an MNNA in 2012, more than a decade after the US attacked and toppled the Taliban regime in Kabul on the grounds that it was harboring then-Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. For years, Washington was able to fully fund Kabul's military budget due to the designation.

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According to the State Department, such a designation is “a powerful symbol of the close relationship the US shares with those countries and demonstrates our deep respect for the friendship” between both sides. Such a step, while it secures certain military and economic privileges, “does not entail any security commitments to the designated country.”

Since the category's introduction in 1987, this status has been officially or unofficially conferred to a total of 20 nations and territories, including Taiwan, the separatist island that China believes to be its legitimate territory and a part of the mainland. The approved nations will have access to maintenance contracts, be able to acquire surplus US weapons and ammunition, use US financing to buy or lease military equipment, and partake in Pentagon research initiatives at a reduced cost.

The decision by Biden to suspend Afghanistan's status is long overdue rather than unexpected. On August 30, 2021, the last US soldier left Afghanistan, by which time the Taliban had fully taken control of the country. The planned departure of US forces turned into a major evacuation blunder involving diplomats, Western nationals, and more than 100,000 Afghans who managed to get to the airport two weeks beforehand when the US-backed government officially handed Kabul over to the Taliban.

The assets held by the Afghan central bank have been blocked and partially seized as a result of Washington's refusal to recognize the new administration, which Taliban at the time slammed as theft and moral decline of the US.