Bajwa
Radio Mashaal: Pakistan’s top military leadership has warned members of parliament that an army crackdown against militants of the Afghan Taliban group inside Pakistan could result in blowback, lawmakers say. Click here to read more (external link).
Majroh
Tolo News: The Ministry of Public Health on Saturday reported 1,272 new positive cases of COVID-19 out of 4,760 samples tested in the last 24 hours. Amidst the lack of oxygen at COVID-19 treatment centers in Kabul and other parts of the country, the acting minister of public health, Wahid Majrooh, on Saturday said Afghanistan is now faced with another major problem: the emergence of COVID-related black fungus cases. Click here to read more (external link).
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Blinken
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
July 2, 2021
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with the top diplomats of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan on July 1, with Afghanistan high on the agenda as U.S. forces prepare to exit the war-torn country and Washington seeks Central Asian partners.
The meetings in Washington come as the Taliban has taken control of dozens of districts in recent weeks, raising concerns that the Western-backed government in Kabul and Afghan security forces may collapse.
The Taliban sweep across northern Afghanistan has put several districts bordering Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in the militants’ hands, presenting a possible security threat to the two Central Asian countries.
Tajik officials are preparing for a possible influx of refugees, while Uzbekistan last month announced military drills along the border.
“We have strong shared interests when it comes to security in the region, particularly with regard to Afghanistan,” Blinken said in brief remarks alongside Uzbek Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov.
Kamilov said his discussions with Blinken would “pay serious attention to the situation in the region.”
Separately, in his meeting with Tajik Foreign Minister Sirojiddin Muhriddin, Blinken discussed Afghanistan and “affirmed the U.S. commitment to Tajikistan’s security, stability, and territorial integrity,” according to a State Department readout.
Even as U.S. troops leave Afghanistan, the United States has vowed to continue to provide support to the Afghan government and security forces, including the option of launching air strikes against the Taliban using warplanes from outside the country.
When President Joe Biden earlier this year announced U.S. forces would exit Afghanistan by September, he said the United States would “not take our eye off the terrorist threat in Afghanistan.”
“The United States will reorganize our counterterrorism capabilities and assets in the region to prevent the reemergence of a terrorist threat in Afghanistan,” he said.
In recent weeks, media reports, including from The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, have suggested U.S. officials are looking to reposition some forces in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in order to keep track of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda, given the two countries’ proximity to Afghanistan.
Potential options, according to U.S. officials, include putting troops, drones, bombers, and intelligence assets at bases or facilities in the two Central Asian countries.
Other options under consideration are using U.S. forces in the Middle East and navy ships at sea.
The prospect of U.S. troops in Central Asia may come up against opposition from Russia and China, two U.S. rivals with influence in the region.
In addition to looking into options to deploy some forces in Central Asia, a U.S. media report said that Washington wants to temporarily house in three Central Asian countries some 9,000 Afghan citizens who worked with the U.S. forces in Afghanistan.
Bloomberg quoted two people familiar with the talks as saying the United States has asked Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan to take in the Afghans.
The State Department has declined to comment on the report.
With reporting by Bloomberg
Carla Babb
VOA News
July 2, 2021
U.S. forces have left Bagram Airfield, the main American base in Afghanistan, and handed control over to Afghan National Security Forces, a U.S. defense official confirmed to VOA.
For nearly two decades the base, 60 kilometers north of Kabul, served as the center of the U.S. fight to remove Taliban forces from power and take down al-Qaida terrorists responsible for killing thousands of Americans on Sept. 11, 2001.
An Afghan Defense ministry spokesman Friday confirmed the withdrawal of all foreign troops from Bagram.
“All coalition and American troops have departed Bagram Air Base last night. The base was handed over to the ANDSF,” tweeted Fawad Aman. He said the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces will protect and use the base to combat terrorism.”
General Austin “Scott” Miller, the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, is still in the country overseeing American forces there, according to the U.S. defense official.
“Gen. Miller still retains all the capabilities and authorities to protect the force,” the official told VOA, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Additional U.S. announcements on Afghanistan were not expected over the weekend, according to the official. Other media reports have suggested the withdrawal from Afghanistan could be completed by the U.S. Independence Day on Sunday, July 4.
Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, welcomed the reported announcement.
“We consider this withdrawal a positive step. Afghans can get closer to stability and peace with the full withdrawal of foreign forces,” he told VOA adding that the withdrawal was also beneficial for both the U.S. and Afghans.
Pro-Taliban social media outlets erupted into celebrations as soon as reports of the U.S. military vacating Bagram became public early Friday, declaring it the insurgent victory.
Tamim Asey, executive chairman of the Kabul-based Institute of War and Peace Studies, said Bagram airfield has been the entry and exit points of both the Soviets and the Americans.
“As a strategic base and airfield, it symbolizes everything that has gone right and wrong with the American intervention in Afghanistan,” Asey told VOA.
“Its grandeur and command at its peak once symbolized American dominance in the country and now its empty camps with equipment that Afghans can’t operate or maintain because it is too costly symbolizes abandonment and defeat,” he observed.
Miller told reporters in Kabul on Tuesday that the security situation was “not good right now” and cautioned the Taliban against attempting to take control of the country by force.
“A military takeover is not in the interest of anyone, certainly not for the people of Afghanistan,” said Miller.
Since May 1, when the withdrawal began, the Taliban has doubled the number of districts it controls, according to the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Long War Journal. The Taliban has grabbed hold of more than 80 districts in the last two months, for a total of 157 Taliban-controlled districts.
Bradley Bowman, a defense expert with FDD and an Afghanistan veteran, said he expects the Taliban gains to “really pick up steam” once the withdrawal is complete.
“I fear and believe that we’re going to be back in Afghanistan in a few years, if not months,” he told VOA. “Clearly President (Joe) Biden made a political decision, that he’s entitled to as commander-in-chief, that was conditions-ignoring and ignored the advice of his commanders on the ground.”
Former U.S. Central Command head Ret. Gen. Joseph Votel told VOA last month the “forever war” narrative in the U.S. played heavily in the political dialogue surrounding the withdrawal decision, which he called disappointing.
“We still have forces in Japan. We still have forces in Korea decades and decades after the conflict has ended. And the reason we have them is because it demonstrates our resolve, it demonstrates our desire to support our interests, and it demonstrates our strong support for our partners on the ground,” he told VOA.
“I don’t think we’re in a situation where this is an immediate collapse type of scenario, but the Afghan forces are going to need support,” Votel added.
The United States has vowed to continue financially aiding the Afghan military, along with providing “over-the-horizon” advising and aircraft maintenance support. NATO has said it will continue training Afghan forces in a location outside of Afghanistan.
But the United States does not plan to support Afghan forces with air strikes after the U.S. troop withdrawal is complete, Gen. Frank McKenzie, the head of U.S. Central Command, told VOA in an interview two weeks ago. He added that counterterrorism strikes in Afghanistan will be limited to instances when attack plans have been discovered to strike the U.S. homeland or the homelands of its allies.
“That would be the reason for any strikes that we do in Afghanistan after we leave, (it) would have to be that we’ve uncovered someone who wants to attack the homeland of the United States, one of our allies and partners,” McKenzie told VOA.
Asked Tuesday whether the United States was reconsidering its post-withdrawal strategy to include defensive strikes against the Taliban, Kirby declined to “hypothesize” but stressed “the violence remains too high.”
“What we’d like to see is the Taliban returned to the peace process in a credible way. And as we see the events on the ground unfolding it certainly calls into question the sincerity of their efforts to be a legitimate credible participant in the peace process,” he said.
The Associated Press reported last week that roughly 650 U.S. troops are expected to remain in Afghanistan to provide security for diplomats after the withdrawal and several hundred additional American forces will remain at the Kabul airport, potentially until September, to assist Turkish troops providing security.
The officials were not authorized to discuss details of the withdrawal and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.
“Afghanistan is not going to be treated like any other nation where we have a Marine security guard. I mean, it’s Afghanistan, and we understand the dynamic nature of the security threat there,” Pentagon press secretary John Kirby told reporters Tuesday, declining to confirm specific numbers.
Ayaz Gul contributed to this story.
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Ariana: Civil society activists in the northeastern province of Takhar said on Thursday that the Taliban have issued new laws and regulations in recently captured districts in the province. The activists said the Taliban have ordered men to grow their beards, banned women from leaving home alone, and have set dowry regulations for girls. “They urged women in a statement to not leave without a relative (Moharam) also urged men to have beards,” said Merajuddin Sharifi, a civil society activist in Takhar. Click here to read more (external link).
Lavrov
Tolo News: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday said that Daesh militants are building up their forces in northern Afghanistan as US and NATO troops are leaving the country, calling it a worry for Moscow. Quoted in a report by Reuters, Lavrov said Daesh was actively gaining territory in Afghanistan amid the withdrawal and what he described as the “irresponsible” stance taken by officials in Kabul. Click here to read more (external link).
Tolo News: The Ministry of Public Health on Friday reported 1,309 new positive cases of COVID-19 out of 3,839 samples tested in the last 24 hours. The number of total recorded cases is 123,463, total deaths is 5,107 and total recoveries is 72,700, according to figures by the Public Health Ministry. Click here to read more (external link).
Rumsfeld (center) with current Defense Secretary Austin (left) and Zalmay Khalilzad (right)
Michael Hughes: On the very same day then-President George W. Bush delivered his “Mission-Accomplished-in-Iraq” speech, his Defense Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, declared that major U.S. combat operations in Afghanistan had “clearly” moved into stabilization mode.
“The bulk of this country today is permissive, it’s secure,” Rumsfeld told reporters during a visit to Kabul on May 1, 2003.
The Taliban, as we all know, would resurge in less than two years. Today, almost two decades after the post-9/11 takedown, the insurgents are well-positioned to take over the country with the U.S. military nearly fully extracted, a defeated giant. Now, all major U.S. combat operations are over – but for much different reasons than Rumsfeld could fathom.
The Guardian (UK): Haji Ghoulam Farouq Siawshani watched the Taliban rampage across northern Afghanistan this month, weighing up the threat from militants on his doorstep. Then, 10 days ago, the former oil trader turned militia commander issued a call to arms. “Where the Taliban go, they bring destruction, and they are one kilometre away from my village,” he told the Guardian. “We decided to respond.” Click here to read more (external link).
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