Latest News
US to keep embassy in Kabul as long as it’s ‘welcome’
The United States will keep its embassy in Kabul once foreign troops have withdrawn unless Afghanistan’s next government tells U.S. officials to leave, the head of U.S. Central Command conceded Monday.
According to Defense One News, U.S. and coalition forces and the international embassies supporting them are there at the invitation of the current Aghan government but that welcome may disappear if a new governing structure emerges that includes the Taliban.
“We won’t be there unless we’re, you know, we are invited to be there,” Marine Corps General Kenneth McKenzie told reporters on Monday.
Defense One reported that the 36-acre U.S. embassy compound in Kabul supported roughly 1,000 government civilians and 4,500 contractors in 2015 and that more than $1.5 billion has been spent to construct temporary housing and permanent hardened facilities there over the last ten years.
But McKenzie said the protection of staff who remain will fall primarily to the Afghan government.
“We do plan to have an embassy in Afghanistan. It will be at the invitation of the government of Afghanistan,” McKenzie said.
“It will be first and most important their responsibility to protect that embassy, although we will always take whatever measures are necessary to protect our diplomats in any embassy anywhere in the world.”
Latest News
OIC chief says it will continue dialogue with IEA on women and girls’ rights
“In Afghanistan, we will continue dialogue with the de facto authorities on the rights of women and girls to education and work, based on Islamic values, and support the humanitarian and economic needs of the Afghan people,” he said addressing the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers in Baghdad, Iraq.
At the meeting, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan also said the situation in Afghanistan, Sudan and Somalia was challenging and should be at the top of the meeting’s agenda.
Latest News
Mullah Baradar urges UNAMA not to overlook Afghanistan’s economic and security achievements
Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’s Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, has urged the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) to publish its reports on Afghanistan impartially, taking the country’s realities into account and not overlooking its economic and security achievements.
He made the remarks on Sunday at a ceremony organised by the Afghan Red Crescent Society to mark the special week dedicated to supporting people in need.
Baradar said: “It is not fair for Afghanistan’s economic and security achievements to be ignored in reports, while UNAMA, as an opposing and hostile party, focuses on the negative aspects.”
The deputy prime minister for economic affairs said many Afghans were facing a severe economic and humanitarian crisis due to recent droughts, seasonal floods, earthquakes and the forced return of thousands of families to the country. He said addressing these challenges required serious attention.
He called on wealthy individuals, traders, investors, charitable organisations and international humanitarian agencies to provide practical assistance and cooperate with the Afghan Red Crescent Society.
Meanwhile, Noorulhaq Anwar, head of the General Directorate of Administrative Affairs, called on Afghanistan’s neighbouring countries to stop harassing and suppressing Afghans and depriving them of economic opportunities.
Referring to relations between neighbours, Anwar said neighbours should help reduce one another’s difficulties rather than make people’s lives harder through economic pressure.
Without naming any specific country, Anwar added that Afghanistan’s neighbours were still harassing and suppressing Afghans and depriving them economically.
Latest News
Hegseth says only a few NATO allies were involved in fighting in Afghanistan
Recalling his deployment to Afghanistan, Hegseth said he would visit NATO headquarters in Kabul, where the flags of around 50 countries were displayed.
-
Sport5 days agoAfghan futsal coach: Brazil tournament is first step towards new goals and World Cup
-
Latest News5 days agoAfghan official says Durand Line crossings to remain closed until Islamabad accepts demands
-
Latest News4 days agoIndia, Russia hold security talks on Afghanistan and Pakistan amid regional tensions
-
Latest News5 days agoAfghan farmers adopt climate-resilient innovations to improve food security
-
Latest News5 days agoGuterres proposes 60 job cuts at UNAMA
-
Latest News4 days agoUzbekistan gains ground in Afghanistan’s flour market as Kazakhstan loses exports
-
Regional5 days agoSaudi Aramco administrative building attacked, limited fire reported
-
World5 days agoYemen hospitals overwhelmed by surge in war casualties, Red Cross warns
