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US moving military gear to Afghanistan to support troop’s withdrawal
The Central Command of the US Armed Forces reported that the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) has been moved to Afghanistan to ensure the security of the withdrawal of forces from the country.
The HIMARS multiple rocket launchers has been moved from Kuwait to secure the withdrawal of its forces from Afghanistan, CENTCOM announced on its Twitter this week.
“HIMARS is a full-spectrum, 24/7, precision weapons system that can hit targets more than 43 miles (69 km) away,” it said.
This tweet coincided with the announcement by the Pentagon this week that it will send hundreds of troops and dedicated close air support aircraft to Afghanistan to protect U.S. forces during the withdrawal.
Two more B-52s have arrived in the region, joining two more that arrived late last week.
CNN reported that about 650 forces, largely from the Army’s 75th Ranger Regiment, are preparing to deploy to Afghanistan to help with the withdrawal and that close air support such as AC-130s also will deploy for protection.
Pentagon spokesman John F. Kirby said he could not confirm the details in the report, saying “we want to be careful about some elements of our ability to provide force protection,” but the “addition of posture in Afghanistan to assist with this drawdown” is expected.
Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin has meanwhile reportedly asked U.S. Central Command boss General Kenneth McKenzie to provide an updated drawdown plan by the end of the week, which will include more force protection recommendations, Kirby said.
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Girls’ education is a ‘vital issue’ for Afghanistan: Karzai
Former president Hamid Karzai said in a meeting with Iran’s ambassador and special representative, Hassan Kazemi Qomi, that education of girls was a “vital issue” for Afghanistan.
Karzai said he appreciated Iran’s cooperation and its standing with the Afghan people, especially Iran’s contributions to education in Afghanistan.
During the meeting, Karzai said peace and stability in the region are in the interest of all regional countries.
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Uzbekistan’s humanitarian aid arrives in Balkh
A shipment of humanitarian aid from Uzbekistan was handed over on Thursday to the local officials of Balkh province in the trade port of Hairatan.
Local authorities said the aid, which includes flour, oil, wheat, sugar and meat, has been handed over by Uzbekistan’s Surkhandarya governor to the governor of Balkh.
The governor of Surkhandarya stated the purpose of sending this aid was to support the people of Afghanistan and stressed the need for the development of good relations between the two countries.
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Afghanistan’s problems caused more damage to Pakistan than 3 wars with India: Durrani
Islamabad’s special envoy for Afghanistan Asif Durrani said on Wednesday that Pakistan has suffered more due to Afghanistan’s internal situation than Pakistan has suffered in three wars with India in terms of blood spilt and finances drained.
Durrani said at a one-day International Conference titled “Pakistan in the Emerging Geopolitical Landscape”, which was organized by the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI) and the German Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES), that over 80,000 Pakistanis died in the two decades of the War on Terror and that his country was still counting its dead and injured.
“After the withdrawal of NATO forces, it was hoped that peace in Afghanistan would bring peace to the region. However, such expectations were short-lived,” he said.
He also stated that attacks by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militant group on Pakistan’s border areas increased by 65 percent, while suicide attacks increased by 500 percent.
“The TTP’s enhanced attacks on Pakistan while using Afghan soil have been a serious concern for Pakistan. Another worrying aspect is the participation of Afghan nationals in these attacks,” he said.
Durrani also said Pakistan had suffered geopolitically since the Soviet Union invaded the neighboring country.
“The post-9/11 world order has negatively impacted Pakistan. Apart from losing 80,000 citizens’ lives, including 8,000 law enforcement agency personnel, the country’s economic opportunity cost is estimated at $150 billion,” Durrani said.
Talking about the future outlook for Pakistan in the regional context, Durrani said that while “our eastern neighbor is likely to continue with its anti-Pakistan pursuits, the western border poses an avoidable irritant in the short to medium term.”
However, he said Pakistan can overcome its difficulties with Afghanistan, including the TTP challenge.
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