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Pentagon reports military leaders planning post-withdrawal financial support

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Pentagon Press Secretary John F. Kirby said on Wednesday that the US is currently focusing on the post-withdrawal support process, which he says will be largely financial.

In a press briefing Wednesday, Kirby said: "I want to stress ... that, right now, the focus of the post-withdrawal support to the Afghan ... National Defense and Security Forces is going to be largely through financial means, with some over-the-horizon logistical support."

“For example, aircraft maintenance, that's really where the focus of the efforts are," he said.

Marine Corps General Kenneth F. McKenzie, the commander of U.S. Central Command, and his staff are working now to develop that plan in Afghanistan before the US leaves, Kirby said.

The Defense Department is also working with the State Department regarding the diplomatic efforts required for over-the-horizon basing opportunities in the region, he added.

Financial support for the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces — meant to provide resources for such things as salaries for soldiers and police — is expected to continue much as it has for most of the last 15 years, Kirby said.

Over-the-horizon capacity includes the ability to continue to protect the United States from the terrorist threats that exist in any nation in the region, even if the US is not specifically in that country. The US already has such capabilities in the Middle East, and more will come.

"We already have at our disposal over-the-horizon counterterrorism capabilities to support our desires that no additional threats to our homeland can emanate from Afghanistan," Kirby said.

"That said ... we want to have additional capabilities, and we're working through that," he added.

Kirby also explained why it's important, once the US leaves Afghanistan, that the airport in Kabul remains secure and open to operations.

"The airport would provide, obviously, aside from the transportation support for people and for equipment ... it would also provide a needed logistical hub, not just for our embassy, but for the embassies of other nations that want to maintain diplomatic presence there in Afghanistan," he said.

"Obviously, in a country like Afghanistan, security of that logistical hub is important, and you want to make sure that, that it can ... be properly ensured and protected."

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WFP delivers life-saving food to nearly 250,000 in Afghanistan

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The World Food Programme (WFP) has announced in a report that the organization was able to reach nearly 250,000 food-insecure people across Afghanistan with the assistance from China in the past few months.

The report said WFP was able to procure more than 2,000 metric tons of food, including fortified wheat flour and fortified vegetable oil, yellow split peas and salt which was distributed to more than 35,000 families or nearly 250,000 people across the country.

“Entire communities across Afghanistan experience despair and hunger,” said Ma Chen Guang, Counsellor of Economic and Commercial Affairs of the Chinese Embassy in Afghanistan, at a ceremony in Kabul on Thursday."

“China will continue to work with the World Food Programme to provide food assistance to hungry Afghan families in need of assistance for survival.”

The report stated: “The contribution from China came at a critical moment when a massive funding shortfall put at risk WFP’s work in Afghanistan. Last year, WFP had to cut 10 million people from assistance and this summer, due to the ongoing funding crisis, 11 million people did not receive emergency food assistance.

“This included more than 2 million mothers and their children who received no specialized supplementary food to combat malnutrition.”

“Afghanistan remains a global hunger hotspot and more than three-quarters of all people across the country cannot afford a nutritious diet that keeps them from falling into malnutrition,” said Hsiao-Wei Lee, Country Director of WFP Afghanistan.
“Families across the country need continued emergency food assistance to get through the winter months.”

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UK, Qatari officials discuss Afghanistan

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Qatar’s Minister of State for International Cooperation, Lolwah bint Rashid Al Khater, met Tuesday with Director for Pakistan and Afghanistan at the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Andrew McCoubrey, on the sidelines of the World Humanitarian Forum in London.

During the meeting, they detailed cooperation relations between the two countries and ways to boost them and discussed the humanitarian and development conditions in Afghanistan, especially in the fields of health and education, Qatar’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

They also exchanged views on joint cooperation in humanitarian and development projects in Afghanistan, according to the statement.

Meanwhile, Suhail Shaheen, head of the Islamic Emirate's political office in Qatar, has met with the Turkish ambassador to Doha to discuss bilateral relations between Afghanistan and Turkey.

Shaheen said on X that the meeting also discussed education, health, agriculture and investment opportunities in Afghanistan.

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IEA appoints delegation to probe reports of massacre on Iran-Pakistan border

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The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) has appointed a delegation to investigate reports of Afghans being killed on the Iran-Pakistan border.

Hamdullah Fitrat, deputy spokesman for the Islamic Emirate, said the delegation is headed by Mullah Mohammad Ibrahim Sadr, the deputy interior minister for security.

He said the delegation has been tasked to investigate the matter thoroughly and comprehensively and submit its report to the prime minister's office and receive necessary instructions for further action.

Fitrat added that the delegation began its work on Wednesday and is trying to find out the truth as soon as possible.

On Tuesday, an Iranian-based human rights organization, Haalvsh, claimed Iranian forces had gunned down at least 260 Afghan migrants near the Kalgan Saravan region in Iran's Sistan and Baluchestan province on Sunday evening.

 

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