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Pentagon panel completes key phase of Afghanistan withdrawal review, vows full accounting
A final report is expected to be presented to the Defense Secretary and released publicly in the coming months.
The United States Department of Defense said a special review panel examining the 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal has completed a major phase of its work, including extensive interviews with senior military and civilian leaders.
In a statement, the department said the Afghanistan Withdrawal Special Review Panel—chaired by Sean Parnell—has concluded the substantive portion of its interviews as part of what officials describe as one of the most comprehensive after-action military reviews in modern history.
According to the department, the panel was established by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at the direction of Donald Trump. Its mandate is to conduct a full-scale examination of the planning and execution of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021.
Officials said the panel interviewed a wide range of key figures involved in the withdrawal, including senior military leaders such as Mark A. Milley, Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., and Austin S. Miller.
In addition to interviews, the panel has reviewed more than nine million documents gathered from multiple U.S. government agencies and prior Defense Department efforts. The department noted this far exceeds the scope of an earlier review conducted under former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, which examined roughly 3,000 documents.
“The Secretary Austin-led effort was significantly narrower in scope and over-classified at the highest levels, limiting public access to critical information,” the statement said.
The Defense Department said the ongoing review aims to deliver the most transparent and comprehensive account to date of the events surrounding the withdrawal, including identifying systemic, institutional, and leadership failures that contributed to the collapse of the former Afghan government.
“Our purpose is to ensure that such a tragedy is never repeated,” the statement said, emphasizing accountability to the American public as a central objective.
The department added that the panel is now working to integrate its findings, cross-reference previous reviews, and finalize recommendations. A final report is expected to be presented to the Defense Secretary and released publicly in the coming months.
The United Nations has warned that around one million children in Afghanistan are suffering from life-threatening severe acute malnutrition and could die without urgent treatment.
UNICEF said on Tuesday that about 3.7 million children across Afghanistan are suffering from wasting, a condition caused by acute malnutrition.
Tajudeen Oyewale, UNICEF’s representative in Afghanistan, said around one million of these children are suffering from severe acute malnutrition, which is considered the most dangerous form of acute hunger.
“If there is no treatment and we are not able to act fast, that one million number are at risk of dying,” Oyewale said during a media briefing in Geneva, speaking from Kabul.
He said the nutrition crisis is worsening across the country, with more than 500,000 children requiring hospital care so far this year for moderate and severe wasting.
According to UNICEF, nearly 40 percent of children admitted to hospitals with severe wasting and medical complications are babies younger than six months. Children under the age of two account for more than 80 percent of severe acute malnutrition cases.
Oyewale said malnutrition is playing a major role in the increasing number of deaths among very young children in Afghanistan.
The situation has also placed growing pressure on hospitals. In July last year, around 6,000 severe malnutrition cases were recorded, while the number rose by about one-third to more than 8,000 cases by July this year.
“In parts of southern Afghanistan, some hospitals are now seeing three or four severely malnourished children for every available bed,” Oyewale said.
Kabul Municipality says the districts of Bagrami and Chahar Asyab will be incorporated into Kabul city as part of a broader plan to expand and develop the capital.
Nematullah Barakzai, a Kabul Municipality official, told the BBC that Kabul has experienced significant growth in recent years, both through the expansion of the city’s boundaries and the construction of high-rise buildings.
“Kabul is not only growing vertically, but it has also seen considerable horizontal expansion, which can be observed on Google Maps,” Barakzai said. “Kabul currently has 22 municipal districts, and Bagrami and Chahar Asyab are also expected to be incorporated into the city.”
The municipality has not yet announced a specific timeline for implementing the plan.
Bagrami is located about 15 kilometers from central Kabul, while Chahar Asyab lies south of the capital and serves as one of the main routes connecting Kabul with Afghanistan’s southern provinces.
Amir Khan Muttaqi, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Emirate, met with Mohammad Nasser Mohammad Al-Sayer, CEO of Kuwait’s Al-Sayer Group.
According to a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Emirate, the meeting focused on Afghanistan’s current situation, security, stability, as well as opportunities in trade and investment.
Muttaqi described relations between Kuwait and Afghanistan as historical and positive, expressing hope for further expansion of comprehensive ties between the two countries.
Nasser Al-Sayer, expressing his satisfaction with his visit to Afghanistan, said he wanted to establish trade relations with Afghanistan in the future.
He added that his company plans to export fresh and dried fruits from Afghanistan to Kuwait and other markets.
The two sides also emphasized expanding economic and trade relations, strengthening joint cooperation, facilitating travel, and making effective use of investment opportunities available in Afghanistan.
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