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Pentagon says no decision yet on troops withdrawal from Afghanistan
Pentagon says that Washington is ready to “orderly” pullout forces from Afghanistan if US President Joe Biden decides to withdraw.
Under the US-Taliban agreement, which was signed last year in Doha, foreign troops should leave Afghanistan by May 1 “if the Taliban meets certain conditions.”
Pentagon said that there are currently almost 10,000 foreign troops – including 2,500 US soldiers – in Afghanistan.
Addressing the reporters on Tuesday, Pentagon Press Secretary John F. Kirby stated that US has not completed its review over troop withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Kirby emphasized that no decision has been made yet.
Kirby noted that if the president decides to withdraw, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is confident that Marine Corps Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, the commander of U.S. Central Command, and Army Gen. Austin Miller, the commander of NATO’s Resolute Support Mission and U.S. Forces — Afghanistan, “will get it done in a safe, orderly and effective way.”
Kirby told reporters that one of the reasons Secretary Austin went to Afghanistan “to meet with Afghan and US leaders was to listen to them, their concerns and see the situation for himself.”
He noted that Austin was in Kabul not to deliver a message to President Ashraf Ghani, but “to listen and learn.”
“It will inform his participation in the review that’s ongoing… And it will certainly inform the advice, whatever advice that might be, that he will give to President Biden,” Kirby said.
Kirby restated: “We all want to see a responsible end to this war that is sustainable, and it’s based on a negotiated political settlement. That’s what we’re all driving to.”
This comes as US State Secretary Antony Blinken stated Tuesday NATO Allies and partners remain firmly committed to Afghanistan’s long-term security and stability through the Resolute Support training mission.
“We will ensure that Afghan soil is never again used to launch an attack on America or her allies,” he said.
“As stated at the NATO Defense Ministerial, the U.S. and our NATO Allies and partners are pushing for a responsible end to the war in Afghanistan. As Allies we must remain unified: we went in together, we will adjust together, and when the time is right, we will leave together,” Blinken tweeted.
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Girls’ education is a ‘vital issue’ for Afghanistan: Karzai
Former president Hamid Karzai said in a meeting with Iran’s ambassador and special representative, Hassan Kazemi Qomi, that education of girls was a “vital issue” for Afghanistan.
Karzai said he appreciated Iran’s cooperation and its standing with the Afghan people, especially Iran’s contributions to education in Afghanistan.
During the meeting, Karzai said peace and stability in the region are in the interest of all regional countries.
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Uzbekistan’s humanitarian aid arrives in Balkh
A shipment of humanitarian aid from Uzbekistan was handed over on Thursday to the local officials of Balkh province in the trade port of Hairatan.
Local authorities said the aid, which includes flour, oil, wheat, sugar and meat, has been handed over by Uzbekistan’s Surkhandarya governor to the governor of Balkh.
The governor of Surkhandarya stated the purpose of sending this aid was to support the people of Afghanistan and stressed the need for the development of good relations between the two countries.
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Afghanistan’s problems caused more damage to Pakistan than 3 wars with India: Durrani
Islamabad’s special envoy for Afghanistan Asif Durrani said on Wednesday that Pakistan has suffered more due to Afghanistan’s internal situation than Pakistan has suffered in three wars with India in terms of blood spilt and finances drained.
Durrani said at a one-day International Conference titled “Pakistan in the Emerging Geopolitical Landscape”, which was organized by the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI) and the German Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES), that over 80,000 Pakistanis died in the two decades of the War on Terror and that his country was still counting its dead and injured.
“After the withdrawal of NATO forces, it was hoped that peace in Afghanistan would bring peace to the region. However, such expectations were short-lived,” he said.
He also stated that attacks by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militant group on Pakistan’s border areas increased by 65 percent, while suicide attacks increased by 500 percent.
“The TTP’s enhanced attacks on Pakistan while using Afghan soil have been a serious concern for Pakistan. Another worrying aspect is the participation of Afghan nationals in these attacks,” he said.
Durrani also said Pakistan had suffered geopolitically since the Soviet Union invaded the neighboring country.
“The post-9/11 world order has negatively impacted Pakistan. Apart from losing 80,000 citizens’ lives, including 8,000 law enforcement agency personnel, the country’s economic opportunity cost is estimated at $150 billion,” Durrani said.
Talking about the future outlook for Pakistan in the regional context, Durrani said that while “our eastern neighbor is likely to continue with its anti-Pakistan pursuits, the western border poses an avoidable irritant in the short to medium term.”
However, he said Pakistan can overcome its difficulties with Afghanistan, including the TTP challenge.
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