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CENTCOM chief ‘developing concepts’ to deal with ‘terrorists’
Commander of US Central Command General Kenneth F. McKenzie said on Tuesday he is developing concepts that will preserve the US’s ability to ensure Afghanistan does not again become a safe haven for terrorist attacks against the United States.
He said these concepts will help enhance America’s “ability to strike terrorists and capitalize on partnerships elsewhere in the region.”
He said his headquarters is also working closely with that of U.S Forces Afghanistan and the NATO-led Resolute Support mission “to ensure that we withdraw our forces from Afghanistan in a deliberate synchronized manner that protects our personnel.
He said the U.S will continue to provide security assistance to the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces on a bilateral basis.
“The department [of defense] is working through how we will manage this effort without personnel in Afghanistan, to manage security assistance, we’re also steadfastly supporting ongoing diplomatic efforts to resolve Afghanistan’s long war while holding the Taliban to their part of the February 2020 commitment that they will end their relationship with al-Qaeda and prevent the use of Afghanistan by any group or individual against the security of the United States and its allies,” he said.
McKenzie’s comments coincided with a US Senate Foreign Relation Committee hearing on Tuesday, which saw lawmakers raise concerns about the future of Afghanistan post troop withdrawal.
“How we withdraw and what political arrangement is left in our wake matters deeply,” US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez said.
“If the Taliban were to come back to power, the reality for Afghanistan’s women and girls, I think, would be devastating.”
Menendez said that he doesn’t “believe under any circumstances that the United States Senate will support assistance for Afghanistan, especially under the World Bank’s program which provides budget support, if the Taliban has taken a governing role that ends civil society advances and rolls back women’s rights.”
But US peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad said any future support of a government that included the Taliban would be conditional.
“If they do want US assistance, they want international acceptance … those things will be all affected by how they treat their own citizens, first and foremost the women of Afghanistan, children and minorities,” Khalilzad said at the hearing.
“We should all remain concerned that those rights could suffer,” he said.
Asked if the US would keep any leverage to protect those rights once its troops are gone, Khalilzad said aid and other types of diplomatic support “would be not available if they did not respect the human rights of Afghan women or others.”
Senator Jim Risch said the US military withdrawal should proceed only with safeguards for the gains the US has made in Afghanistan.
“I have deep concerns about the administration’s rush for the exits in Afghanistan,” Risch said.
“I hope I’m wrong, but I’m concerned that the administration’s decision may result in a Taliban offensive that topples the government.”
But Khalilzad said that he doesn’t “believe the (Afghan) government is going to collapse or the Taliban is going to take over.”
“The choice that the Afghans face is between a negotiated political settlement or a long war,” he added.
Officials of Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS) say several major companies from neighboring countries, including Russia, are interested in investing in the production of electrical equipment in Afghanistan.
The officials added that Afghanistan has the capacity to attract millions of dollars in investment in the production of electrical equipment.
According to DABS officials, a large portion of the equipment required by Breshna is purchased from neighboring and other countries, and increasing domestic production could reduce the country’s reliance on imports to some extent.
Meanwhile, private-sector representatives said investment in the production of electrical equipment is a serious need. They stressed that investment in the development and production of electrical equipment should be accelerated to reduce imports and increase domestic production.
They said the move would not only reduce reliance on imports but also create employment opportunities for thousands of people.
Economic analysts also said that, alongside electricity generation, investment in the production of equipment used for electricity generation and transmission should be increased. This would allow domestically produced electrical equipment to enter the local market and help reduce imports of foreign products.
Currently, electrical equipment is imported into Afghanistan from various countries, including China, Iran and Turkey.
Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada, the supreme leader of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), has said that obedience, solidarity and unity are important factors in strengthening the system, and that religious scholars should work to promote these values in society.
He made the remarks during a meeting with the Minister of Higher Education, deputy ministers, directors, and heads of religious seminaries and state universities.
The Supreme Leader said religious scholars have a major responsibility toward society and should help people become familiar with religious matters and Sharia rulings.
He added that if religious scholars follow the right path and government officials properly carry out their responsibilities, the people will also follow their example.
Akhundzada also urged university officials to pay serious attention to the education and training of students and to familiarize them with religious matters alongside their academic studies.
He said students will in the future take on responsibilities in different sectors of the government and society, including medicine, engineering and other fields. He called on university officials to make greater efforts to properly educate and train them.
Moldovan President Maia Sandu has criticized the decision to issue visas to a delegation of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), saying the visit resulted from government officials failing to understand Moldova’s policy toward the IEA.
Speaking on Jurnal TV, Sandu said a state secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture had not checked the government’s position on relations with the IEA before submitting the visa request.
According to Sandu, officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs processed the request based on the senior position of the official who submitted it, assuming that the request had already received the necessary approval.
The president described the incident as “shameful” and said disciplinary action should be taken against those responsible.
“Based on the information I have at the moment, a State Secretary from the Ministry of Agriculture did not check what the policy of the Republic of Moldova is regarding the Afghan regime. And this is strange. On the other hand, some officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, when they received an official request from another ministry, assumed — even though the procedures did not require consultation — that this rather unusual request was supported and confirmed by a person holding a public position, by a State Secretary. The information did not reach other people, and this is how the incident happened,” Maia Sandu said.
Sandu said the government had informed her that disciplinary sanctions would follow to prevent similar incidents in the future.
Earlier, Moldova’s Agriculture State Secretary Vasile Sarban said the Afghan delegation’s visit was arranged following a request from a Moldovan company that produces phytosanitary products and exports them to Uzbekistan.
The company had expressed interest in expanding its market to Afghanistan. Afghan representatives then sought to visit Moldova to learn about the production of phytosanitary products, according to Sarban.
The delegation that travelled to Moldova was led by Deputy Agriculture Minister Sadr Azam Osmani.
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