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Biden tells Congress US will continue to support Afghanistan and its peace process
US President Joe Biden said in a letter to Congress on Tuesday that Washington will continue to fully support peace talks between the Afghan government and Taliban and will encourage other nations in the region, especially Pakistan, to do more to support stability in Afghanistan.
In his letter he stated that over the past few decades, the United States and its partners have trained hundreds of thousands of Afghan troops and that the US will with the support of Congress, “continue to support the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces”.
“We will also continue to support the rights of Afghan women and girls and to maintain significant humanitarian and development assistance to Afghanistan.
“We will continue to pursue diplomacy and fully support peace talks between the Government of Afghanistan and the Taliban, facilitated by the United Nations. And we will encourage other nations in the region, especially Pakistan, to do more to support Afghanistan and to support stability in the country,” Biden stated in the letter.
“But we will not allow United States troops to be a bargaining chip between warring parties in other countries. That is a recipe for staying indefinitely in Afghanistan,” he said.
He also stated the US will withdraw responsibly, deliberately, and safely, from Afghanistan, in full coordination with its allies and partners.
“Our NATO allies and operational partners, who have stood shoulder-to-shoulder with us for almost 20 years and who have also made great sacrifices, will now withdraw alongside our forces as we stand by our enduring principle of ‘in together, out together’.”
Giving background on his decision to leave Afghanistan, Biden stated that he reached this conclusion “after conducting a rigorous policy review process and consulting closely with our allies and partners, with our military leaders and intelligence personnel, with our diplomats and our development experts, with the Congress and the Vice President, and with the President of Afghanistan and many other leaders around the world.”
He noted however that over the last 20 years, the terrorist threat to the United States has become more dispersed around the globe and that keeping thousands of troops concentrated on the ground in Afghanistan “no longer makes sense as the most effective counterterrorism strategy when the threat has metastasized across the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.”
“Our focus and posture need to adapt accordingly,” he said.
But according to him, the US will not take its eye off the terrorist threat in Afghanistan.
“The United States will reorganize our counterterrorism capabilities and assets in the region to prevent the reemergence of a terrorist threat in Afghanistan.
“We will hold the Taliban and the Afghan government accountable to their commitments not to allow terrorists to threaten the United States or its allies from Afghan soil. And we will refine our national strategy to monitor and disrupt terrorist threats wherever they arise,” he said to Congress.
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India sends over 63,000 vaccine doses to boost Afghanistan’s public health system
New Delhi has reiterated that it remains committed to supporting the Afghan people through sustained humanitarian and medical assistance.
India has reinforced its support for Afghanistan’s public health sector with the delivery of a new batch of essential vaccines to Kabul.
Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said New Delhi has supplied 63,734 doses of influenza and meningitis vaccines to Afghan health authorities as part of its ongoing humanitarian assistance program.
Afghan health officials noted that the vaccines will be integrated into national preventive healthcare efforts and will help curb seasonal illnesses while reducing the risk of meningitis outbreaks, especially during periods of heightened vulnerability.
They said the shipment arrives at a time when Afghanistan’s medical resources remain under significant strain.
India has served as a key health partner to Afghanistan in recent years, providing medical supplies, essential medicines, and several rounds of vaccines to help strengthen the country’s healthcare infrastructure.
New Delhi has reiterated that it remains committed to supporting the Afghan people through sustained humanitarian and medical assistance.
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Deputy interior minister for counter-narcotics travels to Uzbekistan
Abdul Rahman Munir, the Deputy Minister for Counter-Narcotics at the Ministry of Interior, traveled to Uzbekistan this afternoon along with his accompanying delegation.
According to a statement from the Ministry of Interior, the purpose of the trip is to participate in a meeting of member countries of the Central Asian Regional Information and Coordination Centre for Combating Drugs (CARICC).
The statement added that the meeting will be held on December 5 of this year in the city of Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
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Imran Khan accuses Army Chief of ‘igniting’ Pakistan–Afghanistan tensions
In his post, written in Urdu, Khan said: “Asim Munir’s policies are disastrous for Pakistan. Because of his policies, terrorism has spiralled out of control, which grieves me deeply.”
Former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan has accused Army Chief Asim Munir of deliberately “igniting tensions” with Afghanistan, calling his policies “disastrous” for Pakistan.
The 73-year-old former cricketer, who has been imprisoned since 2023, issued the remarks through his official account on the social media platform X. His statement was shared a day after his sister, Uzma Khan, met him at Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail following “special permission” granted by the government led by Shehbaz Sharif.
In his post, written in Urdu, Khan said: “Asim Munir’s policies are disastrous for Pakistan. Because of his policies, terrorism has spiralled out of control, which grieves me deeply.”
He further alleged that the army chief’s actions were motivated by a desire to please Western governments, saying Munir had “deliberately ignited tensions with Afghanistan so he could be seen internationally as a so-called ‘mujahid’.”
The founder of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf added that he had long opposed “drone attacks and military operations against our own people,” arguing such tactics would only worsen militancy. Khan claimed Munir first “threatened Afghans,” then oversaw the expulsion of refugees and the launching of drone strikes, the consequences of which he said were now visible in rising violence.
Khan also launched a personal attack on the army chief, calling him “mentally unstable” and accusing him of presiding over the “collapse of the Constitution and rule of law in Pakistan.”
He alleged that, on Munir’s orders, he and his wife had been imprisoned on fabricated charges and subjected to “the worst form of psychological torture.”
Khan said he had been held in solitary confinement for four weeks, with no human contact and without basic entitlements provided under the jail manual. He added that despite court directions, access to political colleagues, lawyers and family members had been blocked.
Referring to an incident involving another sister, Noreen Niazi, he said she was “dragged on the road” while trying to meet him.
Khan praised Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi for choosing “resistance over compromise” and urged him to “continue to play on the front foot.” He added that those threatening to impose governor’s rule in the province should “do it today rather than tomorrow and then watch what happens.”
An undeclared ban on meetings with Khan had fuelled speculation about his health. After visiting him, Uzma Khan said he was “perfectly fine” physically but was being subjected to “mental torture” in solitary confinement.
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