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Pentagon says no decision yet on troops withdrawal from Afghanistan

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Pentagon says that Washington is ready to “orderly” pullout forces from Afghanistan if US President Joe Biden decides to withdraw.

Under the US-Taliban agreement, which was signed last year in Doha, foreign troops should leave Afghanistan by May 1 “if the Taliban meets certain conditions.” 

Pentagon said that there are currently almost 10,000 foreign troops – including 2,500 US soldiers – in Afghanistan.

Addressing the reporters on Tuesday, Pentagon Press Secretary John F. Kirby stated that US has not completed its review over troop withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Kirby emphasized that no decision has been made yet.

Kirby noted that if the president decides to withdraw, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is confident that Marine Corps Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, the commander of U.S. Central Command, and Army Gen. Austin Miller, the commander of NATO’s Resolute Support Mission and U.S. Forces — Afghanistan, “will get it done in a safe, orderly and effective way.”

Kirby told reporters that one of the reasons Secretary Austin went to Afghanistan “to meet with Afghan and US leaders was to listen to them, their concerns and see the situation for himself.”

He noted that Austin was in Kabul not to deliver a message to President Ashraf Ghani, but “to listen and learn.”

“It will inform his participation in the review that’s ongoing… And it will certainly inform the advice, whatever advice that might be, that he will give to President Biden,” Kirby said.

Kirby restated: “We all want to see a responsible end to this war that is sustainable, and it’s based on a negotiated political settlement. That’s what we’re all driving to.”

This comes as US State Secretary Antony Blinken stated Tuesday NATO Allies and partners remain firmly committed to Afghanistan’s long-term security and stability through the Resolute Support training mission.

“We will ensure that Afghan soil is never again used to launch an attack on America or her allies,” he said.

“As stated at the NATO Defense Ministerial, the U.S. and our NATO Allies and partners are pushing for a responsible end to the war in Afghanistan. As Allies we must remain unified: we went in together, we will adjust together, and when the time is right, we will leave together,” Blinken tweeted.

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Khalilzad: Another US citizen to be released from Afghan custody soon

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Zalmay Khalilzad, the former U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan, has announced the release of another American citizen in the country.

Khalilzad said in a post on his X account that, according to information from the Islamic Emirate’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Faye Dai Hall, an American citizen who has been in custody in Afghanistan, will be released soon.

Earlier, George Glezmann, an American citizen whom the Islamic Emirate had held for over two years, was also released.

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About $80 billion worth of US military equipment abandoned in Afghanistan: Vance

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US Vice President JD Vance said on Friday that Joe Biden administration left about $80 billion worth of military equipment in Afghanistan, which was a “catastrophic error.”

Vance made the remarks during a visit to a military base in Greenland.

He also said the Biden administration’s “catastrophic error” led to the deaths of 13 US soldiers in an attack during the evacuation at Kabul airport in August 2021.

Earlier, US President Donald Trump also criticized the abandonment of military equipment in Afghanistan and called for its return.

The Islamic Emirate, however, has said that the weapons left by the US in Afghanistan belong to the Afghans and will not be returned.

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IEA frees over 2,400 prisoners on the occasion of Eid

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The Supreme Court announced on Saturday that based on the ruling of the supreme leader of the Islamic Emirate, 2,463 prisoners have been pardoned and released on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr.

The court said in a statement that the prison terms of another 3,152 prisoners have been reduced.

Eid in Afghanistan will be celebrated on Sunday or Monday, depending on the moon sighting.

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