Latest News
DoD mum on regional troop presence plans after withdrawal
Defense officials say they will maintain some US troop presence near Afghanistan for counterterrorism operations into the future, but would not say where that force would be based or whether it could be in place before all American troops leave the war-torn country.
According to Military Times, David Helvey, acting assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific Affairs said during a hearing before the House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday: “Those planning efforts are in parallel [with the drawdown], but they’re not linked.”
“We have a substantial capability in the Middle East. We’ll still have the ability to prosecute terrorism from positions around the region. Looking at what that footprint is going to be like within the region is going to be an important part of the equation,” he said.
The official withdrawal of US troops started on May 1 and is expected to be finished by September 11.
On Tuesday, US Central Command officials said withdrawal work is already six percent to 12 percent complete.
Defense officials have also been reluctant to unveil their post-withdrawal plans for the region, promising a regional security force but providing few details.
Meanwhile, Helvey told the house committee on Wednesday that military leaders will “be able to help to manage and mitigate the threat of terrorism that can emanate from Afghanistan,” thanks to established relationships with the government there.
He also noted that officials are reassessing their force levels throughout the region now, and looking for “areas that are closer to Afghanistan” for positioning American troops. Helvey declined to name any specific countries that may host a sizable contingent of service members.
He also declined to elaborate on how many US military forces would be stationed at American diplomatic facilities in Afghanistan, saying only that the issue is under review.
Helvey said “we’ve learned a lot over the past 20 years in how to address transnational terrorist threats” and echoed comments from Biden that the country needs to work more closely with international partners to root out and eliminate terrorist groups, Military Times reported.
Several Republican lawmakers took exception to that overview, saying that a more detailed strategy is needed to offset the “hasty” withdrawal of troops.
But Military Times reported that House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith pushed back on that criticism, calling the Biden plan “the best decision in a series of bad options” for the country.
“You cannot tell me that after 20 years, doing the same thing for another one or five or 10 years would have changed anything,” he said. “We would have been asking people to die to not accomplish anything. That’s a really tough thing to do.”
Latest News
More than 800 Afghan refugees deported from Pakistan in two days
As many as 837 Afghan refugees have been forced to return to their country through Torkham and Spin Boldak crossings in the last two days, officials announced on Saturday.
The Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation said in a statement that 90 families comprising 468 people returned through Torkham crossing.
Another 67 families comprising 369 people returned through Spin Boldak crossing, it said.
The returnees have been introduced to international organizations to receive aid, and the Islamic Emirate has also paid 10,000 Afghanis to each family.
Pakistani government launched the second phase of deporting illegal refugees five days ago.
Latest News
Iran executes four Afghan prisoners
Iran executed four Afghan prisoners in Vakliabad Prison in Mashhad on Thursday morning, a human rights group reported.
Haalvsh said that the individuals had been arrested in 1398 over drug-related charges and then sentenced to death by the court.
This organization announced the names of the executed prisoners as Zaman Taheri, Salam Taheri, Gholam Qadir Samani and Ebrahim Noorzahi.
Zaman Taheri and Salam Taheri were brothers.
Iranian officials have not commented about the matter so far.
Latest News
Roof collapse kills two in Helmand
Two people were killed after roof of their house collapsed in southern Helmand province on Friday night, officials said.
Abdul Bari Rashid, head of information and culture in Helmand, told Ariana News that the incident occurred in Tajkan village of Gershak district due to heavy rain.
According to him, the dead include a woman and a child. A man was injured in the incident.
This comes as 10 people have died and six others have been injured as a result of the floods in Helmand province in the last one week.
-
Sport5 days ago
ACL fever grows as fixtures finalized
-
Latest News5 days ago
US identifies Kabul airport suicide bomber
-
World4 days ago
Israeli military vows response to Iran attack as calls for restraint mount
-
Sport3 days ago
ATN secures exclusive rights to broadcast Paris 2024 Olympics
-
Latest News4 days ago
Pakistani police give Afghans in Balochistan one day to leave
-
Latest News4 days ago
Hekmatyar slams US for ‘occupying’ Afghanistan’s airspace
-
Latest News4 days ago
Media Violation Commission bans two TV channels
-
Latest News3 days ago
More needs to be done to boost local industry, says Kabir