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US to keep two larger military bases in Afghanistan after drawdown

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(Last Updated On: December 3, 2020)

The Pentagon has approved drawdown plans in Afghanistan but will still keep two large military bases in the country, US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley said on Wednesday.

Speaking at an event hosted by Brookings Institution think tank, Milley said that in addition to the two bases, the US would also keep “several satellite bases.”

This was the first time a Pentagon or White House official has offered any details following outgoing US President Donald Trump’s sudden announcement last month of another major drawdown of troops – from around 4,500 to 2,500 by mid-January.

This decision also left many NATO allies questioning the future of the mission in Afghanistan without US assistance.

Milley meanwhile said on Wednesday that the US military will also continue its two core missions – assisting Afghan security forces who are locked in conflict with Taliban insurgents and carrying out counterterrorism operations against IS-K (Daesh) and al-Qaeda.

However, Milley did not say which bases in Afghanistan would be shut down nor which bases would remain.

He also declined to speculate about what President-elect Joe Biden may decide. “What comes after that, that will be up to a new administration,” he said.

Milley also said the United States had “achieved a modicum of success” in Afghanistan.

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At least 1,500 families affected by recent floods: IRW

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(Last Updated On: April 23, 2024)

The Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW) organization has reported that the rains and floods of the last week have claimed the lives of many Afghan and incurred huge financial losses.

According to the organization, a total of 1,500 families have suffered as a result of the recent floods and hundreds of livestock have also been lost.

IRW added that following the recent rains, 900 houses were partially or completely destroyed and 93,000 hectares of agricultural land was damaged.

This comes amid an ongoing economic crisis in Afghanistan which has left millions of people reliant on aid.

The disaster management ministry meanwhile confirmed earlier that 99 people died and 64 others were injured as a result of the heavy rains.

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Russia says US facing humiliation in Ukraine like in Vietnam and Afghanistan

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(Last Updated On: April 22, 2024)

Russia said on Sunday U.S. lawmakers’ support for $60.84 billion more in aid for Ukraine showed that Washington was wading much deeper into a hybrid war against Moscow that would end in humiliation on a par with the Vietnam or Afghanistan conflicts.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said it was clear that the United States wanted Ukraine “to fight to the last Ukrainian” including with attacks on Russian sovereign territory and civilians, Reuters reported.

“Washington’s deeper and deeper immersion in the hybrid war against Russia will turn into a loud and humiliating fiasco for United States such as Vietnam and Afghanistan,” Zakharova said.

Russia, she said, will give “an unconditional and resolute response” to the U.S. move to get more involved in the Ukraine war.

The United States lost more than 58,000 military personnel in the 1955-75 Vietnam War, which ended with Communist North Vietnam’s victory and takeover of the South, while hundreds of thousands of civilians were killed.

In the 2001-2021 war in Afghanistan, the U.S. reported 2,459 dead and over 20,000 wounded in the conflict which ended with the withdrawal of U.S.-led coalition forces and return to power of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA).

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Iran says water is an important factor in expansion of ties with Afghanistan

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(Last Updated On: April 22, 2024)

Iran’s special representative for Afghanistan, Hasan Kazemi Qomi, said on Sunday that water is an important factor in the expansion of bilateral relations, expressing hope that the flow of water to his country will continue.

Qomi said this in a meeting with Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs Amir Khan Muttaqi in Kabul, the ministry said in a statement.

The envoy expressed gratitude for removing obstacles to the flow of water from the Helmand River to Sistan and Baluchestan province of Iran.

Meanwhile, Muttaqi noted that there were good rains in the country this year, as a result of which, after several years of severe drought, Helmand River’s water flowed to Nimroz province of Afghanistan and into Sistan and Baluchestan province of Iran.

He assessed the relations between Afghanistan and Iran as “friendly and positive” and hoped relations will expand further in various fields.

During the meeting, Iran’s envoy also thanked the Islamic Emirate for its stance on Israel’s attacks on Gaza and for having condemned the attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus.

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