Ayaz Gul VOA News June 8, 2021 ISLAMABAD – Pakistan has formally conveyed to the United States that Islamabad will not provide military bases to Washington for counterterrorism operations in Afghanistan after all international troops exit the war-torn country, and the U.S. side has stopped raising the issue, senior Pakistani officials said. Several top Pakistani
1TV: The United States is planning to keep its embassy in Kabul open after US troops depart, but not if future Afghan government doesn’t want it, a top US general said on Monday. “The protection of any diplomatic mission in any country is first and foremost the responsibility of the host nation,” Gen. Kenneth McKenzie,
Jeff Seldin VOA News June 7, 2021 WASHINGTON – There is no guarantee that Afghanistan’s government and security forces will succeed, or even survive, once the last U.S. and coalition troops leave the country, according to a blunt assessment from NATO’s top official. “We have to face the reality there is, of course, a lot of uncertainty,”
Ayaz Gul VOA News June 7, 2021 ISLAMABAD – The Taliban have urged Afghans who worked for departing U.S. and NATO militaries in Afghanistan over the years not to “desert” their war-ravaged nation for fear of retribution by the insurgent group. Monday’s Taliban pledge comes as thousands of Afghans employed, mostly as interpreters, by the
Ayaz Gul VOA News June 6, 2021 ISLAMABAD – The U.S. peace envoy to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, along with a high-level delegation, met Sunday with leaders in Kabul to discuss bilateral cooperation after U.S. and coalition troops leave the country by a Sept. 11 deadline. The discussions come as Taliban insurgents have intensified battlefield attacks
NBC News: The Afghan security forces rely heavily on U.S.-funded contractors to repair and maintain their fleet of aircraft and armored vehicles, and a whole array of other equipment. But the roughly 18,000 contractors are due to depart within weeks, along with most of the U.S. military contingent, as part of Washington’s agreement with the
Ayaz Gul VOA News June 4, 2021 ISLAMABAD – The Taliban seized a district in southern Afghanistan Friday without facing any resistance from Afghan government security forces, bringing to seven the number of districts the insurgents have overrun since the United States and its NATO allies began withdrawing their troops from the country a month
Tolo News: Currently, there are around 36,000 religious seminaries in Pakistan functioning as factories to produce Taliban. It is a big and thriving industry, patronized by the military and run by the religious elites with huge investments from the Middle East. A good number of students here are still Afghans who have been used (and
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty June 3, 2021 The U.S. military says air and ground operations it conducted in Afghanistan last year unintentionally killed 20 civilians. The deaths are among an estimated 23 civilians killed in U.S. operations in war zones in 2020, according to an annual report on civilian casualties submitted to Congress. The U.S. Department of
By Carla Babb VOA News June 2, 2021 PENTAGON – The fate of the international effort to train Afghan national security forces has become increasingly unclear as Pentagon officials point to other priorities with only about three months left until U.S. and NATO forces complete their troop withdrawal from the war-torn country. The Resolute Support training,