President Joe Biden will withdraw all troops from Afghanistan by Sept. 11, the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on America that were coordinated from that country, U.S. officials said Tuesday. The decision defies a May 1 deadline for full withdrawal under a peace agreement the Trump administration reached with the Taliban last year. But Biden has been hinting for weeks that he was going to let the deadline lapse, and as the days went by it became clear that an orderly withdrawal of the remaining 2,500 troops would be difficult and was unlikely. A senior administration official said the drawdown would begin May 1. Biden’s choice of the 9/11 date underscores the reason that American troops were in Afghanistan to begin with – to prevent extremist groups like al-Qaida from establishing a foothold again that could be used to launch attacks against the U.S. The president decided that the deadline for withdrawal of U.S. forces had to be absolute, rather than provisional on conditions inside Afghanistan as the deadline neared, the senior administration official said. “We´re committing today to going to zero” U.S. forces by Sept. 11, and possibly well before, the official said, adding that Biden concluded that a conditioned withdrawal would be “a recipe for staying in Afghanistan forever.” U.S. officials provided details on Biden´s decision on condition of anonymity, speaking ahead of the announcement. It was first reported by The Washington Post.