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Resolute Support Mission effectively ends May 1: Pentagon
Pentagon spokesman John F. Kirby said this week the US mission in Afghanistan, known as Resolute Support Mission (RS), effectively ends on May 1 when the United States and NATO formally enter the “mission to draw down”.
Kirby said the mission shifts on Saturday – May 1 – to become one of a drawdown.
Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, Kirby said “it’s no longer about advise-assist for Afghan National Security Forces, and it’s …it’s no longer the Resolute Support mission under the NATO hat. It becomes the — the mission to draw down, to leave Afghanistan, and the — the assets at General Miller’s disposal will be designed to help him execute this drawdown in a safe and orderly way.”
Kirby said “May 1st is just around the corner, so they’re working hard at the final preparations to — to execute that new mission on May 1st.”
He also stated that it “would be irresponsible” for the US not to expect an attack by the Taliban during the exit process. “And that is why you are seeing additional force protection assets being flown — flowed into the region. We already talked about the carrier. We talked about the bombers yesterday. And as I said yesterday, there’s certainly, without getting into details, the likelihood that, you know, some additional ground force elements, too, could be introduced into Afghanistan to help us with a safe and orderly drawdown.
Kirby stated that Miller’s main function, come May 1, will be to draw down all U.S. military personnel and contractors that are serving in Afghanistan and do so in a safe and orderly way.
“After that, our relationship with Afghan National Security Forces transitions to one of support from outside the country, and we talked about that largely being through financial means,” he said.
But he noted the Afghan government still needs support from US contractors, particularly for aviation maintenance. He said: “we’re working our way through that.”
Kirby also noted that the Pentagon has ensured Miller has options available to “make sure he can keep our troops and those of our allies safe as they — as they come out.”
Pakistan’s government on Friday extended the stay of Afghan refugees in the country till June 30, amid repatriation of illegal foreign nationals.
There are around 1.3 million registered Afghans living in Pakistan, according to a spokesman for UN refugee agency UNHCR in Islamabad, Dawn newspaper reported.
“On the recommendation of the Ministry of States and Frontier Regions, the federal cabinet approved the extension of the validity of PoR cards of Afghan refugees from April 1, 2024, to June 30, 2024,” said an official statement, issued by the Prime Minister’s Office.
The PoR cardholders will be repatriated in the third phase of the plan that will begin after the repatriation of “illegal foreign nationals” residing in Pakistan is completed, the statement added.
The PoR card holders avail schools, bank accounts and other facilities in Pakistan.
Repatriation of undocumented refugees began on November 1 and continues. More than 500,000 Afghans have been expelled so far.
John Bass, US acting under secretary of state for political affairs, will travel to Qatar and Pakistan April 26-30, US State Department announced on Friday.
In Doha, Qatar, he will meet with senior Qatari government officials and other diplomatic missions to discuss support for Afghanistan and shared security interests in the region, US State Department said in a statement.
In Islamabad, Pakistan, Under Secretary Bass will meet with senior Pakistani government officials to discuss a range of regional and bilateral issues as part of the U.S.-Pakistani partnership, the statement added.
John Bass served as US ambassador to Afghanistan under Donald Trump administration between December 2017 and January 2020.
A tripartite meeting between the delegations of Afghanistan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan was held in Kabul with the aim of connecting North Asia to South Asia and reducing transit and transportation costs among these three countries, the Ministry of Trade and Commerce said in a statement.
In this meeting, an agreement was reached on the creation of a joint technical committee to continue the talks.
This tripartite meeting was held under the leadership of Nooruddin Azizi, the Acting Minister of Industry and Commerce, Vice President of Turkmenistan and Srik Zhumangarin, the Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan.
Earlier, a bilateral meeting was held between the delegation of the Islamic Emirate and Turkmenistan. The ministry of commerce said the participants of the meeting discussed the construction of a large joint logistics center in Torghondi, the trilateral transit agreement between the IEA, Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan, the expansion of Afghanistan’s railway, solving issues related to Afghan transit and export goods, and a number of other commercial issues.
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