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State Department review of 2021 Afghanistan evacuation critical of Biden, Trump

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A US State Department report on Friday criticized the handling of the 2021 evacuation from Afghanistan, saying decisions by President Joe Biden and his predecessor Donald Trump to withdraw troops had "serious consequences for the viability" and security of the former US-backed government.

Adverse findings in the report also reflected badly on Secretary of State Antony Blinken, without naming him. They included the department's failure to expand its crisis-management task force as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan advanced on Kabul in August 2021 and the lack of a senior diplomat "to oversee all elements of the crisis response."

"Naming a 7th floor principal ... would have improved coordination across different lines of effort," said the report, referring to the State Department's top floor where Blinken and senior diplomats have offices, Reuters reported.

The review, and a similar Pentagon study, contributed to a report released by the White House in April. But the State Department review's critical findings were not reflected in the White House report.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre defended Biden's handling of the Afghan pullout.

"He had to make a decision," she told reporters on Friday. The United States had poured "billions of dollars into a war with no end in sight" and that "he wanted to stop that, he wanted to end that," she said.

Steven Cheung, a spokesman for Trump, wrote in an email: "There’s only one person responsible for the disastrous pullout of Afghanistan — Joe Biden,"

The White House report effectively blamed the chaotic US pullout and evacuation operation on a lack of planning and troop reduction rounds by Trump following a 2020 deal with the Taliban to withdraw US forces.

"I can't speak to that internal coordination piece and how the administration settled on the core conclusions that it presented" in April, a senior State Department official said.

The official, briefing reporters on condition of anonymity, declined to say why the review dated March 2022 was withheld from release until the eve of the July 4 holiday weekend, Reuters reported.

The State Department released 24 pages of an 85-page After Action Report - the rest remained classified - on its handling of the evacuation operation launched as the last US-led international forces departed after 20 years of backing successive Kabul governments against the Taliban.

While those decisions were outside its scope, the review said that "during both administrations there was insufficient senior-level consideration of worst-case scenarios and how quickly those might follow."

A White House spokesperson disputed that conclusion. He pointed to a White House report finding that there were extensive meetings and tabletop exercises to explore evacuation scenarios as part of the planning process, including contingencies "actually worse than the worst-case predictions."

The State Department review said department planning "was hindered" because it was "unclear" which senior official "had the lead."

Senior administration officials also failed to make "clear decisions regarding the universe of at-risk Afghans" to be included in the evacuation by the time it started nor had they determined where Afghan evacuees would be taken, it said.

Preparation and planning "were inhibited" by the Biden administration's reluctance to take steps that could signal a loss of confidence in the Kabul government "and thus contribute to its collapse," the review found.

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IEA delegation attends conference for ‘Promoting Mining Cooperation’ in China

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The Ministry of Mines and Petroleum said on Saturday in a statement that its delegation participated in a conference titled "Promoting Mining Cooperation" in China’s Hunan province.

The Ministry stated the conference aims to build a well-equipped laboratory in Afghanistan, increase the capacity of technical and professional employees of the Ministry of Mines, and encourage investors in the mineral resources sector of Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, Chinese investors expressed their interest in Afghanistan’s gold, copper, mica, talc, oil, gas, lithium, lead and zinc mines.

At the conference, the ministry’s deputy minister of finance and administration and head of the delegation Hussamuddin Saberi talked about Afghanistan's natural resources contracts and investment opportunities and considered holding such programs effective for the relations between the two countries.

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Uzbekistan, EU envoys meet to discuss Afghanistan

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Uzbekistan’s special representative for Afghanistan, Ismatulla Irgashev, on Friday met with the EU Special Representative for Central Asia Terhi Hakala.

During the meeting, the parties discussed the current state and prospects of Uzbek-European relations in the Afghan direction, the efforts of the international community to prevent a humanitarian crisis in the country and the possibility of using the international transport and logistics hub in Termez to deliver humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, Uzbekistan’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

Hakala highly appreciated the efforts of Uzbekistan to develop a consolidated regional position on Afghanistan, establish long-term peace and stability in the country, according to the statement.

The parties expressed mutual interest in continuing bilateral consultations on the Afghan issue, the statement added.

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UN expert calls for comprehensive, rights-focused action plan for Afghanistan

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A UN expert on Friday called on the international community to devise and implement a comprehensive, human rights-centered action plan to address the human rights crisis in Afghanistan.

“The absence of a unified, forceful response from the international community has emboldened the Taliban (IEA),” UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, said.

In his latest report to the UN General Assembly, Bennett said that the human rights situation in Afghanistan is worsening, which includes systematic gender oppression, amounting to gender persecution and which many Afghans term “gender apartheid” with intergenerational implications.

Bennett expressed concern about the new “vice and virtue” law, announced in August, which he believes has institutionalized an expanding list of restrictions that “blatantly violate the rights of women and girls.”

He also expressed concern about the “shrinking civic space” in Afghanistan, the situation of minorities, journalists, and former government officials and security personnel.

“Justice, equality, and the rule of law are being systematically undermined,” he said.

The UN expert also called for increased funding and support for Afghan civil society and humanitarian efforts to mitigate the crisis.

Bennett urged the IEA to reverse its “repressive policies” and reinstate basic human rights. He pressed the international community to take a coordinated, multifaceted approach to support the Afghan people.

Bennett urged states not to normalize relations with the IEA until there are demonstrable human rights improvements and pathways to justice and accountability.

This comes as the Islamic Emirate has said that it is committed to ensuring human rights, including the rights of women and girls, according to Sharia, and this is an internal issue of Afghanistan.

The Islamic Emirate has banned Richard Bennett from traveling to Afghanistan, saying that he exaggerates small issues.

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