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Pentagon says Bagram withdrawal was discussed with Afghan leaders
Dispelling reports that the Afghan leadership had not been informed about the final withdrawal of US troops from Bagram Airfield last week, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said there had been coordination with Afghan leaders, both in government as well as in the Afghan security forces, about the eventual turnover of the base.
Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, Kirby said: “As you know, it was the seventh and the final base that we turned over to the Afghan National Security Forces. You don’t do that in a vacuum and this wasn’t done in a vacuum.
“I can’t speak for the level of information that went down the Afghan chain of command but I can tell you that Afghan leaders, civilian and military, were appropriately coordinated with and briefed about the turnover of Bagram Air Base.
“The specific conversation and coordination about the turnover of Bagram, the final conversations occurred about 48 hours prior.”
He said however that “obviously, for operational security reasons, we didn’t go into the exact hour at which all U.S. forces would leave Bagram.”
This comes after reports emerged this week that the U.S. forces flew out of Bagram in the early hours of Saturday morning after switching off the lights and not informing anyone.
A walkthrough of the base on Monday showed the deserted facility littered with discarded equipment including hundreds of civilian and armored vehicles.
Kirby stated however that due to security concerns U.S. forces are taking precautions. “We have had to operate under the assumption that this drawdown could be contested at any time. And so we’re very careful about what we say and how — how much detail we provide out there, but there was coordination.”
He also said “it’s not like the closure or the turnover of Bagram was at — at all in dispute throughout this drawdown process. Everybody knew that was happening and — and there was general understanding about roughly when. Again, as we got closer, more detail was provided to — to Afghan leaders.
He acknowledged that there had been some vehicles left behind and some turned over to Afghan officials.
“Our commitment to the future of a stable and secure Afghanistan has not changed. It’s just going to look different. We’re just not going to be on the ground the way we are now,” he said.
On the issue of over-the-horizon counterterrorism, Kirby said “it’s difficult but it’s doable”.
He told members of the press “I don’t have a breakdown for you right now what that’s going to look like. But, again, it’s important to remember we already have an over-the-horizon counterterrorism capability that the — a carrier strike group in the region, we’ve got facilities throughout the Middle East that have and will continue to be of value in this regard so we have that capability”.
Kirby also said many of the contractors are still in Afghanistan and providing ongoing support to the Afghans and the Afghan Air Force.
“We are actively working on ways in which that contract support can be done remotely or virtually or even physically outside the country,” he said.
Following a two-day official visit to Pakistan, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif issued a joint statement emphasizing the need to further expand commercial and economic cooperation and transform the common border of the two countries from a “border of peace” to “border of prosperity”.
The two leaders also strongly condemned aggressions and crimes of Israel in Gaza, and demanded an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, as well as unimpeded humanitarian access to the besieged people of Gaza.
Numerous other issues were also discussed but on the topic of Afghanistan, they jointly declared their commitment to the development of Afghanistan as a peaceful, united, independent country free from the threats of terrorism and drug trafficking.
According to the statement the two countries pointed out that the existence of terrorist organizations in Afghanistan is a serious threat to the security of the region and the world.
The two sides stressed their desire to strengthen cooperation in the field of fighting terrorism and ensuring security and creating a united front against terrorism.
They also discussed the importance of coordinating regional and international efforts to ensure security and stability in the region.
“While respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Afghanistan, the two sides recognized that increasing participation of all strata of Afghans in basic decision-making will lead to the strengthening of peace and stability in this country,” the statement read.
The Ministry of Refugees and Repatriations (MoRR) says over 1,000 Afghan migrants were forcibly returned from Pakistan on Tuesday through Spin Boldak border crossing in Kandahar province, the ministry said in a statement.
The ministry stated that based on information provided by the Spin Boldak Kandahar border command, these returnees comprised 191 families, totalling 998 people.
In addition, three migrants released from Pakistani prisons were also returned, according to the statement.
The statement added that after registering the returnees, the refugees were referred to the offices of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the World Food Program (WFP) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Each family received 10,000 afghanis – paid to them by the Islamic Emirate.
In another statement, the ministry said that 2,783 migrants living in Iran voluntarily and forcibly returned to the country during this week.
Hamidullah Akhundzadeh, acting Minister of Transport and Aviation, headed a delegation to Uzbekistan for a ‘Six-Party Corridor’ meeting that included representatives from Afghanistan, Russia, Belarus, Pakistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
On the sidelines of this meeting the Afghanistan delegation discussed trade through the corridor with the other five relevant countries.
According to the ministry of transport and aviation, Akhundzadeh met with the deputy ministers of transport of Russia and Belarus.
He also discussed ways to expand transit between Afghanistan and Russia; and Afghanistan and Belarus, and provide the necessary facilities to achieve this.
The ministry added that the acting minister had a bilateral meeting with the Minister of Transport and the Special Representative of the President of Uzbekistan on Afghanistan and discussed the expansion of road transport between the two countries.
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