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Germany warns against premature troop withdrawal from Afghanistan
The German government on Wednesday warned US President Donald Trump that his planned drawdown of American troops from Afghanistan risks putting peace and progress in the country in danger.
“Our serious concern is that a premature withdrawal could jeopardize the negotiation process [between the Afghan government and the Taliban], create a security vacuum and jeopardize the progress achieved in Afghanistan,” German foreign ministry spokesperson Christofer Burger told reporters during a briefing in Berlin.
This came after acting US Defense Secretary Christopher Miller said late Tuesday that Washington will reduce its military presence in Afghanistan from around 4,500 troops to 2,500 by January 15.
Since the US ousted the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2001, NATO allies, including Germany, have assisted American military efforts in the country.
The US currently has around 4,500 troops in Afghanistan while NATO has just under 12,000.
In February the US signed a conditions-based withdrawal agreement with the Taliban which paved the way for the start of peace talks between the Afghanistan Republic’s negotiating team and the Taliban.
However, since the start of talks in September – which quickly hit a deadlock – the Taliban has markedly increased violence across the country.
In line with this, Burger told reporters on Wednesday that German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas “has repeatedly acknowledged that it was a great diplomatic achievement, including that of the Trump government, to create the conditions for peace negotiations between the Taliban and the Afghan government to take place.”
He added: “In our view, this peace process is the best way to ensure that a troop withdrawal can take place in such a way that everything that has been achieved in Afghanistan in recent years — in terms of human rights, education, economic development, development opportunities for girls and women as well — is not lost or put at risk. One of the key business principles of this peace process has always been that military withdrawal steps are subject to conditions.”
At the same briefing, German defense ministry spokesperson Arne Collatz-Johannsen acknowledged that the US troop withdrawal also risks having consequences for the over 1,000 German troops that are currently in Afghanistan as part of the Resolute Support mission.
“We are of course trying to find out — also together with our partners and NATO as a whole — what this means in concrete terms for capabilities on the ground, because it is also very clear that the US, as the strongest contributor to the deployment on the ground, has a significant role to play in capabilities that are necessary to sustain the overall [troop presence],” Collatz-Johannsen said.
“Here we assume that the principle — together in, together out, and out at the right time — will be upheld,” he said. “We now have to adjust our planning … to what we are told by the American side.”
On Tuesday, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg also warned the Trump administration against a hasty pullout from Afghanistan, saying “the price for leaving too soon or in an uncoordinated way could be very high.”
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Khalilzad warns Pakistan-Afghanistan tensions likely to worsen after fresh airstrikes
Former U.S. special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad has warned that the latest Pakistani airstrikes in Afghanistan and recent violence inside Pakistan are part of a wider crisis, saying he sees no indication that the situation is about to change.
In a post on X on Thursday, Khalilzad described the Pakistani airstrikes that have killed Afghan civilians and the increasing use of force against civilians in Pakistan as “interconnected tragedies,” implying both effected by Pakistan’s establishment.
“Unfortunately, I do not see any signs of change,” Khalilzad said, adding that current indicators suggested the use of force against Pakistanis would “likely get worse” in the coming days.
His comments came after Pakistan carried out a new wave of airstrikes inside Afghanistan overnight Thursday, saying it had targeted 10 locations used to launch and store drones.
Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the strikes were conducted in response to drones launched from Afghan territory a day earlier and described them as “deliberate, precise, calibrated and proportionate.”
Afghan officials said the strikes killed four civilians. The attacks reportedly hit locations including Kandahar, Khost and Paktia provinces. Afghanistan’s Islamic Emirate authorities have denied launching the drones cited by Pakistan and have condemned the strikes.
The latest attacks follow Pakistani airstrikes earlier this week in Kunar and Paktika. Pakistan said those operations killed 28 militants, while the United Nations confirmed that three Afghan civilians — a man, a woman and a girl — were killed, with four others injured.
The renewed airstrikes come amid a sharp deterioration in relations between Kabul and Islamabad. Pakistan has accused Afghanistan of allowing militant groups, including the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), to operate from its territory and launch attacks inside Pakistan.
Afghan authorities reject the allegations and say militancy inside Pakistan is an internal issue.
Khalilzad has previously called for a change in Pakistan’s strategy toward both its internal security problems and Afghanistan.
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Afghanistan summons Pakistani chargé d’affaires over latest airstrikes
Afghanistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned Pakistan’s chargé d’affaires to Kabul and lodged a strong protest against the violation of Afghan airspace and Pakistani military airstrikes on several Afghan provinces.
The ministry handed the Pakistani diplomat a formal protest note following the attacks on Kandahar, Paktia and Khost provinces on Wednesday night, which reportedly caused civilian casualties.
The Islamic Emirate strongly condemned the strikes, calling them a violation of Afghanistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and contrary to Islamic, international, humanitarian and good-neighborly principles.
The ministry also rejected what it called baseless claims that Afghan territory was being used as a source of Pakistan’s recent security incidents.
It said using such claims to justify military action was an attempt to distort facts, mislead public opinion and conceal Pakistan’s internal failures.
The Islamic Emirate further accused Pakistan’s military leadership of avoiding commitments made to regional countries and warned that such actions could further escalate tensions in the region.
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Museum dedicated to preserving ‘Jihadi’ artefacts opens in Kandahar
The museum’s collection includes more than 100 items gathered from different locations.
A museum dedicated to preserving what Afghan authorities describe as “Jihadi artefacts” has officially opened in Kandahar, with officials saying more than 100 items have so far been collected for display.
Mufti Mohammad Tahir Ahmad, Director General for the Preservation of Jihadi Artefacts at the Ministry of Information and Culture, attended the inauguration ceremony alongside Qari Ahmadullah Saeed Khosti, Director of Registration for Jihadi Artefacts and Documents.
Mufti Inamullah Samangani, head of the Kandahar Information and Culture Department, and officials from several government departments also attended the ceremony.
According to the official responsible for preserving the artefacts in Kandahar, the museum’s collection includes more than 100 items gathered from different locations.
The collection includes weapons that officials say were captured from British, Soviet and US forces, as well as personal belongings and other items associated with people killed during Afghanistan’s conflicts over the past two decades.
Officials said efforts to collect additional artefacts would continue in order to expand the museum’s collection.
The museum is now open to visitors, according to the officials.
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