Blinken visits Kabul in a show of support after troop withdrawal announcement

US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, flew into Kabul on Thursday where he met with President Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah, chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation (HCNR), in a show of support following the announcement Wednesday of the total withdrawal of all foreign troops by September.

On Wednesday night US President Joe Biden and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced all troops will be pulled out of Afghanistan by September 11. The drawdown will however start on May 1.

According to the Presidential Palace (ARG), Blinken told Ghani on Wednesday in a meeting: “The withdrawal of our troops from Afghanistan will not mean the weakening of strategic relations between the two countries.”

“The United States will honor its commitments to the government and people of Afghanistan,” he said.

According to ARG, Blinken said the United States would continue its diplomatic and humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan and to Afghan forces and will continue its efforts to facilitate the Afghan peace process.

During the meeting with Abdullah, Blinken said: “We have a partnership that is changing but enduring” and “as the [US] president says, we have a new chapter but it’s a new chapter that we’re writing together.”

On Wednesday night Biden said: “It is time to end America’s longest war. It is time for American troops to come home from Afghanistan.”

He said the US will begin its withdrawal on May 1 and that it will not be a “hasty rush to the exit.”

He also stated that if the Taliban attacks, the US will defend itself and partners with “all the tools at our disposal.”

The announcement was not however welcomed by the Taliban who issued a veiled threat to the US and NATO in a statement on Thursday.

The group said the US decision to pull out of Afghanistan starting May 1 is in violation of the agreement signed between the two parties in Doha last year. The Taliban stated it “is a clear violation of the Doha Agreement and non-compliance with its commitments.”

Because of the extended stay in Afghanistan, the Taliban said it would “take every necessary countermeasure, hence the American side will be held responsible for all future consequences.”