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Blinken promises review of Afghan withdrawal to Congress by mid-April
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told lawmakers on Wednesday that the State Department has been putting together a review of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and will share findings with Congress by mid-April.
“We've now been spending time putting all of this together to make sure that we look at some of the common lessons learned," Blinken said in testimony to a Senate Appropriations Committee subcommittee hearing.
"I am committed and determined to make that information available to Congress, and we will do that. We will do that by mid-April. So I can tell you today, you’ll have the after-action review. We will share the findings and find the appropriate mechanism to do that within the next three weeks."
Members of Congress have been demanding information about the August 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan after 20 years in what was the U.S.'s longest war. The Republican chairman of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee threatened this week to issue a subpoena if the State Department does not produce documents it has requested, Reuters reported.
John Kirby, the top spokesperson for the White House National Security Council, told reporters the main takeaways from the review would be released to the public and shared with the House committee.
Republicans, who took control of the House in January, say there has never been a full accounting of the chaotic operation, in which 13 U.S. service members were killed at Kabul's airport.
Hundreds of U.S. citizens and many thousands of Afghans who had worked with American forces were left behind as they were seeking to flee from the Taliban, the Islamist militant group that resumed control of Afghanistan.
Ali Reza Begdeli, Iran's former deputy foreign minister for consular affairs, has been appointed as the country's new ambassador to Kabul, Mehr news agency reported on Sunday.
The outlet added that the post of the Iranian presidential special representative in Afghanistan has been removed and, as before, the special representative for Afghanistan will act directly under the supervision of the foreign minister.
It is worth mentioning that Hassan Kazemi Qomi previously served as Iran's ambassador and presidential special representative in Afghanistan.
The 28th meeting of the foreign ministers of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) member states will be held in Iran’s northeastern city of Mashhad next week.
Spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry Esmaeil Baqaei said on Sunday that the upcoming meeting will be attended by the ministers and senior officials of ECO, directors of the regional specialized departments of the organization, and the secretaries general of a number of multilateral economic organizations.
The meeting will be chaired by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, Iranian local media reported.
Iran is holding the rotating presidency of ECO in 2024.
The Tehran-headquartered ECO was established by Iran, Pakistan, and Turkey in 1985.
The main purpose of the organization is to promote economic, technical, and cultural cooperation among the member states.
In 1992, the organization was expanded to include seven new members, namely Afghanistan, Republic of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
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Daesh claims responsibility for Baghlan attack
A provincial police official, said that several people were arrested in connection with the incident, and that an investigation has been launched.
The Islamic State Khorasan (IS-K), also known as Daesh, has claimed responsibility for a gun attack that left 10 people dead at a Sufi shrine in northern Baghlan province.
The interior ministry spokesman Abdul Matin Qani confirmed that a gunman opened fire on Sufis taking part in a weekly ritual at the Sayed Pasha Agha shrine in a remote area of Nahrin district.
Abdul Ghayoor Khadim, a provincial police official, said that several people were arrested in connection with the incident, and that an investigation has been launched.
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