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U.S. mobilizes 3,000 troops to Kabul for embassy staff drawdown

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(Last Updated On: August 13, 2021)

Faced with unexpectedly rapid military gains by the Taliban, the United States decided on Thursday to dramatically scale down its embassy in Kabul and send about 3,000 troops temporarily to aid the evacuation of staff, Reuters reported.

News of the drawdown, which was first reported by Reuters, underscored Washington’s rapidly deteriorating hopes that diplomacy will halt the Taliban’s advance and keep the capital in the Afghan government’s hands. The Taliban could isolate Kabul within 30 days and take it over in 90, U.S. intelligence assessments concluded this week.

“We’ve been evaluating the security situation every day to determine how best to keep those serving at the embassy safe,” said State Department spokesman Ned Price.

“We expect to draw down to a core diplomatic presence in Afghanistan in the coming weeks,” he said, adding the embassy was not closed. A person familiar with the matter said there were no guarantees the embassy would remain open.

According to the Reuters the State Department said Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Thursday and told him the United States “remains invested in the security and stability of Afghanistan” in the face of Taliban violence.

They said Washington was reducing its “civilian footprint” in Kabul given the “evolving security situation” and would increase the tempo of Special Immigration Visa flights for Afghans who helped the U.S. effort in the country, a State Department statement said.

The officials also said Washington remained committed to maintaining a strong diplomatic and security relationship with the Afghan government and “Secretary Blinken affirmed that the United States remained committed to support a political solution to the conflict,” it added.

President Joe Biden ordered the embassy drawdown during a meeting on Thursday with top security advisers and accepted their recommendation to do so, according to a source familiar with the situation, Reuters reported.

A decision to stay in the country might have required the commitment of many more U.S. troops there to fight a civil war, the source said, as the United States looks to end its 20-year presence prompted by the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Still, the decision cast new doubt on Washington’s strategy to influence Afghanistan’s peace process by maintaining aid and diplomatic personnel even after the troop withdrawal.

Administration officials did not adjust that timetable even as Biden ordered additional troops to Afghanistan to help secure the exit of civilian personnel. The first deployment to the airport in Kabul is expected within 24 to 48 hours, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said.

About 3,500 additional U.S. troops would be sent to the region from Fort Bragg in North Carolina to be on standby if the situation worsened, as well as 1,000 personnel to help process Afghans going through a special immigration process. It is common for the U.S. military to send in troops to evacuate personnel in combat zones.

“I don’t know that we have many choices left,” said Ronald Neumann, U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan from 2005 to 2007, about the decision to downsize the embassy. “What’s left between Kabul and the Taliban?”

STAFF REDUCTION TO BE ‘SIGNIFICANT’

Some Republican lawmakers who opposed Biden’s decision to withdraw troops said they thought it was a good idea to add them now to support the embassy drawdown.

“The Biden administration must move as swiftly as possible to get both American civilians and Afghans who have aided us out of the country as quickly as possible,” said Senator Jim Inhofe, the top Republican on the Armed Services Committee.

There are thought to be about 1,400 staff remaining at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul. Officials said the reduction in staff would be “significant.”

The military mission in Afghanistan is set to end on Aug. 31, with roughly 650 troops remaining in the country to protect the airport and embassy.

Washington is not counting on a power-sharing agreement being reached between the Kabul government and the Taliban but is seeking one to halt the fighting, according to one source. The United States has told the Taliban directly that they will face consequences if Americans are not safe, the source said.

“While the security situation in Afghanistan is deteriorating, our strategy in the region must continue to evolve,” said Representative Adam Smith, a Democrat who is chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. “The safety and security of United States personnel must always come first.”

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Contract worth $53 million signed for construction of last section of Khaf–Herat railway

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(Last Updated On: March 29, 2024)

A contract worth $53 million was signed Thursday for the construction of the last section of Khaf-Herat railway that connects Afghanistan with Iran.

The contract was signed between Afghanistan Railway Authority and Gamma Group in the presence of Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, his office said in a statement.

The segment is 47-kilometer long, stretching from Rabat Parian to Herat International Airport and the Industrial Town, according to the statement.

It added that completion and standard operational readiness are expected within approximately two years.

“Upon its completion, this segment will integrate the Khaf-Herat regional connectivity project with Iran’s significant seaports and facilitate access to Europe via the Turkish railway network,” the statement said.

“Furthermore, traversing Afghan territory, it will bolster commercial exchanges between Central and South Asia. Notably, this project’s realization will enable the expansion of railway networks into Farah, Nimruz, Helmand, and Kandahar provinces,” it added.

Gamma operates across Europe and Asia in multiple sectors including construction, renewable energy, power transmission, mining, railways among others.

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US urges IEA to fulfill counter-terrorism commitments

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(Last Updated On: March 29, 2024)

The US State Department said on Thursday that Washington is committed to ensuring that Afghanistan can never again be a launching pad for terrorism.

“We remain committed to ensuring that Afghanistan can never again be a launching pad for terrorism, and we continue to push the Taliban (Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan) to fulfill all of their counterterrorism commitments to the international community,” the department’s spokesperson Matthew Miller said at a news briefing in Washington.

He reiterated that the United States had clearly communicated to the IEA that it’s their responsibility to ensure that “they give no safe haven to terrorists, whether it be Al Qaeda or ISIS-K or any other terrorist organization”.

Miller also reassured US allies that Washington was closely watching the developments in Afghanistan and was ready to deal with any threat emerging from the region.

“We remain vigilant against the evolving threat of these terrorist groups, and our global coalition to defeat ISIS and the C5+1 help intensify our efforts to monitor terrorist threats from the region and prevent their ability to raise funds, travel, and spread propaganda,” he said.

C5+1 refers to a diplomatic platform involving the five Central Asian states (Kazakhstan, Kyrgy­zstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan) and the United States. It serves as a forum for discussing and addressing regional issues such as security, economic development, and cooperation.

“The United States remains vigilant against the evolving threat posed by terrorist groups, including ISIS-K, and has maintained an unwavering focus on terrorism since President Joe Biden took office three years ago,” Miller said.

The US, he said, was “working both unilaterally and with its partners to successfully disrupt threats across the globe and degrade ISIS”.

“We will continue to work to hold ISIS accountable for its actions and to prevent terrorist attacks against the United States and other Western countries,” Miller said.

This comes as IEA has repeatedly said that it is committed to not allowing anyone to use Afghanistan soil against any other country.

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IEA condemns Israel for confiscating 800 hectares of land in West Bank’s Jordan Valley

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(Last Updated On: March 29, 2024)

The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) strongly condemned on Thursday Israel’s decision to seize 800 hectares of land in the occupied West Bank’s Jordan Valley region.

In a statement, the Foreign Ministry said that the recent actions by “the Zionist regime demonstrate that it does not to adhere to international laws, especially international humanitarian law.”

“Continuation of such unilateral actions and ignoring the rights of Palestinian people will further deteriorate the situation,” the statement said.

“The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan expects international actors, particularly influential regional Muslim countries to fulfill their legitimate, human and moral responsibilities in supporting the oppressed people of Palestine and prevent the expansion of illegal settlements in the occupied territories,” it added.

Israeli media have reported that Israel seized 800 hectares of land in the Jordan Valley region of the occupied West Bank, claiming it as “state land.”

It is reported the seized land could be used for the construction of illegal Jewish settlements.

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