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Biden administration to review US-Taliban withdrawal deal
Washington (AFP) - The Biden administration said it will review a landmark US deal with the Taliban, focusing on whether the insurgent group has reduced attacks in Afghanistan, in keeping with its side of the agreement. Washington struck a deal with the Taliban in Qatar last year, to begin withdrawing its troops in return for security guarantees from the militants and a commitment to kickstart peace talks with the Afghan government. But violence across Afghanistan has surged despite the two sides engaging in those talks since September. President Joe Biden's newly appointed national security a...
AFP
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US troop levels cut to 2,500 each in Afghanistan and Iraq
Washington (AFP) - The US military has cut troop levels in Afghanistan and Iraq to 2,500 each, their lowest levels in the nearly two decades since the wars began, the Pentagon announced Friday. Outgoing President Donald Trump, seeking to fulfill a campaign promise to end the two wars launched after the 9/11 attacks, had ordered force levels slashed in both countries to that level by January 15 -- despite initial pushback from the Pentagon. Acting Secretary of Defense Chris Miller said progress towards peace in both countries permits the cuts without a decrease in security for Americans and the...
AFP
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US says will 'react' if Iran seeks to avenge Soleimani killing
Washington (AFP) - Washington is "prepared to react" if Tehran launches an attack to mark the first anniversary of the killing of powerful Iranian General Qasem Soleimani, the head of US forces in the Middle East warned Sunday. "We are prepared to defend ourselves, our friends and partners in the region, and we're prepared to react if necessary," General Kenneth McKenzie, who heads the US Central Command (Centcom), told journalists. He was touring the region weeks before the anniversary of the January 3, 2020 killing of Soleimani by a US drone strike near the Baghdad airport. "My assessment...
AFP
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Top US general presses Taliban to end violence in rare meeting
Washington (AFP) - The top US military officer has pressed Afghanistan's Taliban to reduce violence in a rare meeting as outgoing President Donald Trump seeks to hasten the end of the nearly 20-year war. General Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, met separately with Taliban representatives in Qatar and with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani in Kabul. It was only the second time the top US general met with the Taliban, whom the US military had tried unsuccessfully to destroy in battle, although Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has also met the Islamist militants in Qatar. In his ...
AFP
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Top US general meets Taliban, Afghan leader ahead of pullout
Washington (AFP) - The top US military officer met separately this week with the Taliban and Afghanistan's president to push for a negotiated solution as the United States pulls out, the Pentagon said Thursday. Meeting the Taliban in Qatar, General Mark Milley "discussed the need for an immediate reduction of violence and (to) accelerate progress towards a negotiated political solution which contributes to regional stability and safeguards US national interests," spokeswoman Commander Sarah Flaherty said. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who was meeting for the second time with Talib...
AFP
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Report into Australian special forces war crimes in Afghanistan ‘gut-wrenching’
Screenshot: Australian Broadcasting Corporation Four Corners video 16 March 2020 ‘Killing Field’A report published on November 19 into alleged war crimes by special forces in Afghanistan has stunned Australians. Australia has had troops in Afghanistan since 2001 as part of the International Security Assistance Force. Combat troops were withdrawn in December 2013, with 400 trainers and advisers remaining till today.Despite media stories and widespread rumours of troop misconduct, the Afghanistan Inquiry report has been described as a horrific bombshell.The inquiry was conducted by Paul Brereton...
Global Voices
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Pompeo to meet Taliban negotiators in Qatar
Abu Dhabi (AFP) - US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will meet negotiators from the Afghan government and Taliban on Saturday amid signs of progress in their talks as the United States speeds up its withdrawal.Pompeo's visit comes in the wake of a rocket attack which struck densely populated areas of Kabul, killing at least eight people in the latest outbreak of violence in the Afghan capital.The Taliban have denied responsibility and no group has claimed the strike.The State Department said late Friday that Pompeo will meet separately with the Afghan government and Taliban negotiation teams in...
AFP
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With US pullout, Afghanistan faces messy free-for-all for influence
Washington (AFP) - In announcing thousands of troops would be pulled out of Afghanistan, President Donald Trump was meeting the mood of the United States but also opening the door to growing, if still limited, influence by US adversaries, experts say.Iran, China, Russia, Pakistan and India all have complex and often competing interests in Afghanistan, where the United States, backed by Western allies, has been the undisputed top foreign power in the nearly 20 years since its invasion.What could emerge is less a "Great Game," as the 19th-century battle for influence in Central Asia was known, b...
AFP
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US to slash troop levels in Iraq, Afghanistan
Washington (AFP) - The US will slash troop levels in Afghanistan and Iraq to their lowest in nearly 20 years, the Pentagon said on Tuesday, prompting security worries among allies and fear on Kabul's streets after President Donald Trump pledged to end conflicts abroad.Rejecting concerns that precipitous drawdowns could give up security gains after years of fighting, Acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller said around 2,000 troops would be pulled from Afghanistan by January 15.Five hundred more would return from Iraq by the same date, leaving 2,500 in each country.Trump had made ending overseas w...
AFP
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US to slash troop levels in Iraq, Afghanistan
Washington (AFP) - The US will slash troop levels in Afghanistan and Iraq to their lowest levels in nearly 20 years of war after President Donald Trump pledged to end conflicts abroad, the Pentagon announced Tuesday.Acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller said around 2,000 troops would be pulled from Afghanistan by January 15, and 500 more would come back from Iraq, leaving 2,500 in each country.The moves reflect Trump's policy "to bring the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to a successful and responsible conclusion and to bring our brave service members home," Miller said.Miller said the US had met...
AFP
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