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US army chief says military ready to exit when ordered
While no decision has yet been announced on whether US President Joe Biden will extend troop presence in the country, the US Army Chief of Staff General James McConville said Monday that the military are ready to execute any orders to exit Afghanistan.
He said “the administration is leading with policy. They’re going to shape it with diplomacy, and then the military will execute those orders. They’re in the process right now.
“There’s multiple contingencies. And once those decisions are made at the highest level, we’ll be ready to execute,” he said.
In an interview with the Washington Post, he said moving the troops and equipment out of the country was all about “physics”.
“Well, it’s all about physics. It comes down to how many people you need to move, how much equipment you need to move. And the commanders in the field have those type of contingency plans, and they’ll be able to advise the senior leaders in administration how long that takes. And those plans were available right now.”
McConville meanwhile implied that Resolute Support Commander General Scott Miller has mechanisms in place to deal with a possible backlash from the Taliban should the US presence remain in Afghanistan after the May 1 deadline.
“I don’t think there’s any finer combat leader [than Miller] in the United States Army. He’s got a very distinguished career. He cares about his troops. And you know, we’re all going to make sure that our troops are taken care of and have the proper defense mechanisms in place to take care of that troop. So that’s certainly on the top of his mind,” McConville said.
He also said that the war in Afghanistan was going to end – “and it’s going to end with some type of political agreement.”
McConville also said that by having gone into Afghanistan in 2001, after the 9/11 attack, the US was able to hold those responsible accountable and were “able to prevent al-Qaida from being operational from that sanctuary over the last 20 years”.
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UNESCO: 2.4 million Afghan girls denied education since 2021
UNESCO estimates that the ban could force around 600,000 Afghan women out of the workforce by 2066 and cause $9.6 billion in lost income. It could also increase the risk of early marriage.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) said on Tuesday around 2.4 million Afghan girls have been denied secondary education since the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) returned to power in 2021.
In a statement on Tuesday, UNESCO said Afghanistan is the only country in the world where girls and women are officially barred from secondary and higher education.
The organization warned that the restrictions could increase poverty, reduce employment opportunities and cause long-term damage to Afghanistan’s future.
UNESCO estimates that the ban could force around 600,000 Afghan women out of the workforce by 2066 and cause $9.6 billion in lost income. It could also increase the risk of early marriage.
Girls’ secondary schools were closed in March 2022, followed by a ban on women attending universities in December of the same year. The IEA initially described the restrictions as temporary, but they remain in place.
UNESCO also warned that the restrictions could worsen Afghanistan’s shortage of female teachers. It estimates the country could face a shortage of more than 11,000 qualified female teachers by 2030.
The organization said more than 90% of 10-year-old children in Afghanistan cannot read a simple text, while the national literacy rate is around 37%.
Nearly half of the country’s schools also lack adequate access to water, sanitation or heating, UNESCO said.
According to the report, around three million people returned to Afghanistan in 2025, putting further pressure on the education system. Since 2021, earthquakes, floods and other natural disasters have also forced around 1,000 schools to close.
Russia’s Power Machines Company is interested in investing in the rehabilitation and modernization of Afghanistan’s power plants, Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS) said on Tuesday.
DABS Chief Executive Officer Abdul Haq Hamkar discussed the potential investment with technical officials from Power Machines, with talks focusing on rehabilitating existing power plants, modernizing equipment and expanding power-generation capacity.
According to DABS, Hamkar said the company would cooperate in facilitating preliminary technical assessments of Afghanistan’s power plants and in exploring investment opportunities in the sector.
Denis Rudakov, head of Power Machines’ commercial department, said the Russian company plans to conduct preliminary technical assessments of existing power plants in Afghanistan.
Based on the findings, Power Machines will prepare proposals for rehabilitating facilities, modernizing equipment and increasing electricity-generation capacity, DABS said.
Afghanistan currently has several operational power plants, while efforts are underway to increase their generation capacity and upgrade their equipment, according to DABS.
Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman for the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), on Tuesday denied that IEA authorities detained Mahmood Shah Habibi, an Afghan-American businessman the US claims disappeared in Kabul four years ago.
“We have no information about Mahmood Shah Habibi. He is not with the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. If he were, this issue would have been resolved long ago,” Mujahid said.
His remarks came a day after the FBI marked the fourth anniversary of Habibi’s disappearance and renewed its appeal for information about his whereabouts.
According to the FBI, Habibi disappeared near his home in Kabul on August 10, 2022. At the time, he was working as a consultant for Asia Consultancy Group, a Kabul-based telecommunications company. He had previously served as Afghanistan’s director of civil aviation.
The FBI has alleged that Habibi was detained by the IEA’s General Directorate of Intelligence.
The FBI has continued its investigation and in 2025 released a missing-persons poster for Habibi. The U.S. State Department has also offered a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to his location, recovery and return.
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