Secretary of State Antony Blinken landed in Afghanistan on Thursday for a surprise see less than 24 hours after President Joe Biden revealed the complete withdrawal of U.S. forces from the nation by Sept. 11.
While in Kabul, Blinken met Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah, chairman of the nation’s High Council for National Reconciliation, along with popular members of Afghan society.
“I wanted to demonstrate with my visit the ongoing commitment of the United States to the Islamic Republic and the people of Afghanistan,” Blinken stated as he fulfilled Ghani in Kabul. “The partnership is changing, but the partnership is enduring.”
Blinken likewise met American soldiers and commemorated their sacrifice.
Around 2,300 U.S. soldiers have actually lost their lives and more than 20,000 have actually been injured considering that the U.S. fell the judgment Taliban in 2001 after it declined to turn over Osama bin Laden, the leader of Al Qaeda and the designer of the horror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. More than 100,000 Afghan civilians have actually likewise been eliminated or hurt considering that 2009, when the United Nations started methodically recording the effect of the war on civilians.
Ghani stated Thursday that he appreciates the U.S. choice to withdraw and revealed thankfulness for the sacrifice U.S. forces had actually made battling “shoulder to shoulder” with Afghan soldiers.
U.S. efforts to assure the Afghan management in the wake of the statement were “heartening to us,” he stated, “as is your visit today.”
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Blinken and Ghani “discussed our shared investment in Afghanistan and the importance of preserving the gains of the last 20 years, especially in building a strong civil society and protecting the rights of women and girls,” State Department representative Ned Price stated.
Blinken stated that America had “succeeded” in attaining the goal it set out almost 20 years earlier — Al Qaeda had actually been substantially broken down and bin Laden “brought to justice.”
Still, some observers and critics state the withdrawal not just endangers U.S. counterterrorism efforts, however that it likewise threatens Afghanistan’s delicate democracy and the gains made by ladies and ethnic and spiritual minorities.
On Wednesday, CIA director William Burns informed the Senate Intelligence Committee that “when the time comes for the U.S. military to withdraw, the U.S. government’s ability to collect and act on threats will diminish. That’s simply a fact.”
Naheed Farid, a member of Afghanistan’s parliament, informed press reporters she was “very pessimistic” about the future of her nation. Farid was amongst half a lots popular Afghans, primarily ladies, who fulfilled Blinken at the U.S. Embassy on Thursday.
Under the Taliban, ladies’s and women’ lives were strictly managed. Many were not permitted to work outside the house, appear in public without a comprehensive body covering, and a male escort. Many minority neighborhoods likewise suffered at the hands of the Taliban, which upholds a rigorous and austere variation of Islam.
Mir Rahman Rahmani, speaker of the Afghan Parliament, revealed issue about the withdrawal. He stated that while the nation’s individuals wish to see foreign forces leave, “the conditions are not met for that to happen yet.”
“It is possible that Afghanistan turns into another civil war or becomes a haven for international terrorist organizations,” he alerted in a speech.
The Taliban likewise stated they were dissatisfied with Biden’s choice. In a declaration Thursday, the group stated the withdrawal hold-up was a “clear violation” of an offer they reached with the U.S. in 2015.
“As the agreement is being breached by America, it in principle opens the way,” it stated, for the group “to take every necessary countermeasure.”
Under previous President Donald Trump, the U.S. concurred that foreign soldiers would leave Afghanistan by May 1 in exchange for the Taliban’s dedication to both disavow Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups, along with participate in peace talks with an Afghan delegation.
As part of the contract signed in 2015, the militants devoted to a decrease in violence. But battling has actually continued regardless of the continuous talks, and civilian casualties and political assassinations have actually risen.
Intra-Afghan settlements have actually continued for months in Doha, Qatar. Turkey revealed previously today that agents of both the Afghan federal government and the insurgent group would satisfy in Istanbul later on this month to speed up the conversations.
Biden revealed Wednesday that all U.S. soldiers would withdraw from Afghanistan in time for the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He stated that the U.S. will continue to offer help to Afghan forces, and diplomatic and humanitarian operate in the nation.
Blinken acknowledged Thursday that the U.S. was waiting on a “definitive” reaction from the militants about their involvement in the Istanbul talks. He likewise alerted the militants that they had an option to make if they desired worldwide acknowledgment.
Before showing up in Kabul, Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin met NATO authorities in Brussels, with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg validating the alliance would likewise be withdrawing.
NATO presently has around 10,000 soldiers in Afghanistan, more than 7,000 of whom are non-U.S. forces.
Mushtaq Yusufzai contributed.
