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US defense budget for 2022 includes $3.3 billion for Afghanistan
The Biden-Harris Administration on Friday submitted to Congress the U.S. President’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 Budget request of $752.9 billion for national defense, $715 billion of which is for the Department of Defense (DoD) - of which $3.3 billion is earmarked for Afghanistan.
According to the budget report, the FY 2022 Defense Budget submission reflects Biden’s priorities to end the “forever wars,” invest in cutting-edge capabilities for the U.S. military and national security advantage in the future, and revitalize America’s network of alliances and partnerships.
The report stated given Biden’s decision to withdraw all U.S. troops from Afghanistan, the FY 2022 budget request of $42.1 billion supports this drawdown, the resulting force posture, and other contingency operations.
According to the report, the request does however support the continued development of the Afghan National Army and National Police to serve as an effective security force that is able to counter terrorism and insurgent threats as well as become a reliable partner to the United States.
The U.S Department of Defense “continues building partnerships using the Afghanistan Security Forces Fund (ASFF) ($3.3 billion) for the sustainment, infrastructure, equipment, and training requirements for an authorized force of up to 352,000 Ministry of Defense (MoD) and Ministry of Interior (MoI) personnel,” read the report adding that this despite “the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) have not historically met the full authorized force structure.”
The report stated: “Although the United States plans withdrawal from Afghanistan by September 11, 2021, there are residual costs in the FY 2022 budget, which include equipment reset and readiness, in-theater support, and operations/force protection.”
Later in a press briefing, DoD officials stated that “the Afghan Pay and Personnel Systems validate that approximately 300,000 Ministry of Defense (MoD) and Ministry of Interior (MoI) personnel are currently enrolled and eligible for pay during the current fiscal year.
“The request supports further development and sustainment of the ANDSF as an effective and sustainable force to combat a resilient insurgency and as a reliable counterterrorism partner with the United States,” officials said.
DoD official Anne McAndrew said during a press briefing on the budget that “with the withdrawal of U.S. soldiers from Afghanistan, support to the Afghan Security Forces remains key in maintaining our ongoing national security objectives in the region.”
She said: “We nevertheless retained funds for an over-the-horizon capability outside Afghanistan and to deter Iran. As we prioritize the Indopacific, we must also ensure that the components have sufficient resources to transition out of Afghanistan responsibly.”
The $3.3 billion request is a slight increase on FY 2021’s $3 billion budget.
The reason for this McAndrew said was because the DoD believes “that given that we are pulling out of Afghanistan we need to provide some additional security support for the ASFF - for the forces there.”
Pakistan has said Islamabad is “deeply shocked” at the martyrdom of Afghanistan Acting Minister of Refugees and Repatriation Khalil-ur-Rahman Haqqani in an explosion on Wednesday afternoon.
Haqqani was martyred in an attack inside the ministry on Wednesday afternoon.
On Wednesday night, Ishaq Dar, Pakistan's Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, said Islamabad “unequivocally condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. We are in touch with the Interim Afghan Government to ascertain further details.”
Pakistan’s special representative for Afghanistan Mohammad Sadiq also passed on his condolences.
He said: “The Government and people of Pakistan are deeply shocked and saddened by the cowardly terrorist attack in Kabul today, which targeted Alhaj Khalil-ur-Rahman Haqqani, Acting Minister for Refugees.
“Pakistan stands in solidarity with Afghanistan in this hour of grief and reiterates its commitment to work with Afghanistan in fighting the menace of terrorism and promoting regional peace and stability.”
The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has expressed its condolences over the martyrdom of the Minister of Refugees and Repatriation, Khalil-ur-Rahman Haqqani’s, and said he was “a tireless Mujahid in the way of God".
On Wednesday evening, IEA’s spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement that Khalil-ur-Rahman Haqqani’s martyrdom was a great loss for the government, the Mujahideen, his family and all Afghans.
“Khalil-ur-Rahman Haqqani spent his whole life in defense of God's religion in Jihad, migration and enduring hardships. He was one of the members of the great Jihadi family for which the enemies of Islam had set a five million dollars bounty on his head,” the statement read.
“Such a cowardly act cannot weaken the will of Muslims or lead the conspirators to their sinister goals against our strong Islamic system. Rather, such cowardly actions make the faces of the enemies of religion and Islam blacker and make their sinister intentions more obvious,” he said.
No group or individual has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.
The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has expressed its condolences over the martyrdom of the Minister of Refugees and Repatriation, Khalil-ur-Rahman Haqqani’s, and said he was “a tireless Mujahid in the way of God".
IEA’s spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement that Khalil-ur-Rahman Haqqani’s martyrdom was a great loss for the government, the Mujahideen, his family and all Afghans.
“Khalil-ur-Rahman Haqqani spent his whole life in defense of God's religion in Jihad, migration and enduring hardships. He was one of the members of the great Jihadi family for which the enemies of Islam had set a five million dollars bounty on his head,” the statement read.
“Such a cowardly act cannot weaken the will of Muslims or lead the conspirators to their sinister goals against our strong Islamic system. Rather, such cowardly actions make the faces of the enemies of religion and Islam blacker and make their sinister intentions more obvious,” he said.
The IEA stated that Khalil-ur-Rahman Haqqani’s was martyred, in a cowardly attack by “Khawarij”.
Khalil-ur-Rahman Haqqani was martyred in an suicide bombing that took place on Wednesday afternoon inside the ministry, but no further casualties have been reported yet.
Khalil Rahman Haqqani, 58, has been the acting Minister of Refugees and Repatriation since September 7, 2021.
Afghan Minister of Refugees and Repatriation, Khalil Haqqani, was martyred in a suicide bombing that targeted the ministry in Kabul on Wednesday, a reliable source confirmed.
Speaking to Ariana News, the source said the explosion happened inside the ministry, which led to the martyrdom of Haqqani.
Khalil Rahman Haqqani, 58, has been the acting Minister of Refugees and Repatriation since September 7, 2021.
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