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Mac Thornberry warns US to halt draw down of troops in Afghanistan

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(Last Updated On: October 25, 2022)

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House Armed Services Committee Chairman of US, Rep. Mac Thornberry is urging the Obama administration to halt the drawdown of U.S. troops in Afghanistan amid worries it could again become a terrorist safe haven.

“I’m concerned about the decisions that the president is to make in the next few weeks or months” about the planned pace of the drawdown, said Thornberry, who just returned from a trip to Afghanistan.

The Obama administration is scheduled to begin drawing down the roughly 9,800 U.S. troops there to just an embassy presence of around 1,000 by the end of next year, when President Obama leaves office.

Thornberry said that move would leave Afghanistan vulnerable to the Taliban, al Qaeda remnants, a growing Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) presence, and other terrorist groups who could plot attacks against the U.S.

“What I’m looking at is what’s in U.S. national security interests, and I keep coming back to the point that terrorism is always going to be attracted to Afghanistan. We’ve seen homeland plots in the past come from there, and for us not to have a presence, for us not to be able to gather intelligence, it would just be a huge blunder,” he said.

The chairman also said the ISIS presence in Afghanistan “has grown faster there than most people in Washington appreciate.”

Army Gen. John Campbell, the head of coalition forces there, is due to deliver his recommendations on the pace of the drawdown to the administration in the coming weeks. Thornberry said he met with him “at length,” as well as with Afghan President Abdul Ghani.

While Thornberry said he did not favor a “permanent” U.S. troop presence in Afghanistan, he said the administration should at least stop drawing down forces and closing bases.

“Don’t close any bases of the remaining bases. So we’re just down to a handful of facilities, and I think, don’t make it any worse,” he warned.

“Right now, everybody’s planning to basically follow the Iraq model, which is, bring the remaining troops into the embassy in Kabul, and close everything else,” Thornberry said.

“A great deal of damage comes to our national security interests when we beat a hasty withdrawal,” he added. “Good heavens, if we’ve learned anything from what’s happened in Iraq, surely we’ve learned that.”

The administration decided to withdraw all U.S. troops from Iraq in 2011, after both countries failed to sign an agreement that would have given U.S. troops immunity from Iraqi law.

Critics point to that decision as a major factor in allowing al Qaeda militants in Iraq, who later became the ISIS, to gain a foothold in the country last year.

The administration plan would see the closure of the handful of remaining U.S. military bases in Afghanistan, and a U.S. troop presence only in the embassy in Kabul.

“If that happens, we cannot collect the intelligence we need to collect, we will have more limited ability to conduct counterterrorism operations. It will be a big loss to us,” Thornberry said.

The U.S. first deployed troops in Afghanistan in 2001, after al Qaeda head Osama bin Laden planned and oversaw the September 11, 2001 World Trade Center attacks there. Bin Laden was given safe haven by the Taliban, which then controlled the government.

The U.S.-led coalition troop presence grew to 120,000 at the height of the war in 2009. Obama, however, pledged to end both wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and announced in 2014 a plan to gradually withdraw all but an embassy presence by the end of 2016.

 

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Contract worth $53 million signed for construction of last section of Khaf–Herat railway

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(Last Updated On: March 29, 2024)

A contract worth $53 million was signed Thursday for the construction of the last section of Khaf-Herat railway that connects Afghanistan with Iran.

The contract was signed between Afghanistan Railway Authority and Gamma Group in the presence of Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, his office said in a statement.

The segment is 47-kilometer long, stretching from Rabat Parian to Herat International Airport and the Industrial Town, according to the statement.

It added that completion and standard operational readiness are expected within approximately two years.

“Upon its completion, this segment will integrate the Khaf-Herat regional connectivity project with Iran’s significant seaports and facilitate access to Europe via the Turkish railway network,” the statement said.

“Furthermore, traversing Afghan territory, it will bolster commercial exchanges between Central and South Asia. Notably, this project’s realization will enable the expansion of railway networks into Farah, Nimruz, Helmand, and Kandahar provinces,” it added.

Gamma operates across Europe and Asia in multiple sectors including construction, renewable energy, power transmission, mining, railways among others.

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US urges IEA to fulfill counter-terrorism commitments

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(Last Updated On: March 29, 2024)

The US State Department said on Thursday that Washington is committed to ensuring that Afghanistan can never again be a launching pad for terrorism.

“We remain committed to ensuring that Afghanistan can never again be a launching pad for terrorism, and we continue to push the Taliban (Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan) to fulfill all of their counterterrorism commitments to the international community,” the department’s spokesperson Matthew Miller said at a news briefing in Washington.

He reiterated that the United States had clearly communicated to the IEA that it’s their responsibility to ensure that “they give no safe haven to terrorists, whether it be Al Qaeda or ISIS-K or any other terrorist organization”.

Miller also reassured US allies that Washington was closely watching the developments in Afghanistan and was ready to deal with any threat emerging from the region.

“We remain vigilant against the evolving threat of these terrorist groups, and our global coalition to defeat ISIS and the C5+1 help intensify our efforts to monitor terrorist threats from the region and prevent their ability to raise funds, travel, and spread propaganda,” he said.

C5+1 refers to a diplomatic platform involving the five Central Asian states (Kazakhstan, Kyrgy­zstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan) and the United States. It serves as a forum for discussing and addressing regional issues such as security, economic development, and cooperation.

“The United States remains vigilant against the evolving threat posed by terrorist groups, including ISIS-K, and has maintained an unwavering focus on terrorism since President Joe Biden took office three years ago,” Miller said.

The US, he said, was “working both unilaterally and with its partners to successfully disrupt threats across the globe and degrade ISIS”.

“We will continue to work to hold ISIS accountable for its actions and to prevent terrorist attacks against the United States and other Western countries,” Miller said.

This comes as IEA has repeatedly said that it is committed to not allowing anyone to use Afghanistan soil against any other country.

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IEA condemns Israel for confiscating 800 hectares of land in West Bank’s Jordan Valley

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(Last Updated On: March 29, 2024)

The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) strongly condemned on Thursday Israel’s decision to seize 800 hectares of land in the occupied West Bank’s Jordan Valley region.

In a statement, the Foreign Ministry said that the recent actions by “the Zionist regime demonstrate that it does not to adhere to international laws, especially international humanitarian law.”

“Continuation of such unilateral actions and ignoring the rights of Palestinian people will further deteriorate the situation,” the statement said.

“The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan expects international actors, particularly influential regional Muslim countries to fulfill their legitimate, human and moral responsibilities in supporting the oppressed people of Palestine and prevent the expansion of illegal settlements in the occupied territories,” it added.

Israeli media have reported that Israel seized 800 hectares of land in the Jordan Valley region of the occupied West Bank, claiming it as “state land.”

It is reported the seized land could be used for the construction of illegal Jewish settlements.

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