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Pentagon chief says removal of all contractors from Afghanistan under way

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Thursday the process of removing all contractors from Afghanistan working with the United States was under way as part of President Joe Biden’s withdrawal of forces from the country.
The remarks are the clearest indication yet that Biden’s April order to withdraw all U.S. forces from Afghanistan by Sept. 11 extended to U.S.-funded contractors.
Asked whether the Pentagon had issued orders to withdraw not just American troops but also contractors, Austin said: “We’re going to responsibly retrograde all of our capabilities that we are responsible for and the contractors fall in that realm as well.”
Speaking with reporters, Austin said the contractors could, however, renegotiate their contracts in the future.
As of April, there were nearly 17,000 Pentagon contractors, including about 6,150 Americans, 4,300 Afghans and 6,400 from other countries.
The departure of thousands of contractors, especially those serving the Afghan security forces, has raised concerns among some U.S. officials about the ability of the Afghan government and military to sustain critical functions.
‘NOT A FOREGONE CONCLUSION’
Austin said the drawdown was going according to plan so far.
But Afghan security forces are locked in daily combat with the Taliban, which has waged war to overthrow the foreign-backed government since it was ousted from power in Kabul in 2001.
In just two days, the Taliban captured a second district in the northern province of Baghlan on Thursday.
The Afghan government says the Taliban have killed and wounded more than 50 troops in attacks in at least 26 provinces during the last 24 hours, while its forces killed dozens of Taliban over the same period.
The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, said there had been sustained levels of violent attacks against Afghan security forces but none against U.S. and coalition forces since May 1.
Milley, in the same news conference, said it was too early to speculate on how Afghanistan would turn out after the withdrawal of U.S. forces given that Afghanistan had a significantly sized military and police force and the Afghan government was still cohesive.
“It is not a foregone conclusion, in my professional military estimate, that the Taliban automatically win and Kabul falls or any of those dire predictions,” Milley said.
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IEA facilitates release of 17 Afghans from some African countries’ prisons

The head of public relations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Zia Ahmad Takal, said on Saturday in a statement that the efforts of the Embassy of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan in Cairo, the capital of Egypt, over the past three months have led to the release of 17 Afghan prisoners from prisons in several African countries, including Egypt, Morocco, Libya, Sudan, and Mauritania.
Takal stated these individuals were detained for various charges and have now been repatriated to Afghanistan via Ariana Afghan Airlines.
He said the process of releasing these Afghan prisoners was carried out in coordination with the Afghan Embassy in Cairo and the countries mentioned above.
Takal added that the Afghan Embassy in Cairo will continue its efforts in the future to support Afghan citizens and ensure their rights are protected.
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Muttaqi: Our actions should be such that people are encouraged towards religion

Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs Amir Khan Muttaqi has said that regligious scholars should serve all sections of society, both in the religious and worldly spheres, and their actions should be such that people are encouraged towards religion.
Addressing students at the Jaamia Riaz-ul-Uloom in Kabul, Muttaqi also stressed the need for unity.
“You should gather everyone around you. No one should be disappointed in you. No one should be offended by you. No one should run away from you. Why should they run away? You should befriend one who runs away. Why should your friend leave you? You have knowledge. You have a system. You have seen the world. You have experience in dealing with matters. Why should he leave you?” Muttaqi said.
He also said that no one should look at another person as if he is less pious.
Muttaqi also warned that “unwarranted criticism leads to destruction.”
“If a sheep, cow or goat leaves the flock, it is eaten by wolf,” he said.
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Ukraine could become EU’s ‘Afghanistan’: Hungarian PM

The war in Ukraine could turn into the European Union’s “Afghanistan,” a grinding and costly engagement with “no way out,” Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban claimed on Friday.
Speaking to former Fox News host Tucker Carlson at a media event in Dubai, Orbán noted the hundreds of billions of euros in aid the EU has spent helping Ukraine resist Russia’s full-scale invasion, which Moscow launched three years ago this month, Politico reported.
“If President [Donald] Trump is not able to find a solution, that war could become easily an Afghanistan for the European Union,” Orbán said, referring to the United States’ 20-year war in the Central Asian country.
Beginning in 2001 immediately after the Sept. 11 attacks and ending in 2021 with the abrupt withdrawal of U.S. troops, the war in Afghanistan remains the longest American war in history.
“Endless war, endless conflict, no way out of the conflict, eating up energy, human lives, money, everything,” Orbán said, continuing with his comparison. “Destroying the frame of normal life for the European Union. … We are in serious danger.”
Orbán, who is one of the few European leaders to remain friendly with Putin, repeated Kremlin talking points that Russia invaded Ukraine in a bid to stop it from joining NATO.
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