The prime minister said that the UK did not underestimate the challenge of the NATO mission in Afghanistan and pledged to continue supporting Kabul after troops’ withdrawal…reports Asian Lite News.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Thursday said that all British troops are returning to the United Kingdom from Afghanistan, adding that the majority of personnel is already withdrawn.
“All British troops assigned to NATO’s mission in Afghanistan are now returning home. For obvious reasons, I will not disclose the timetable of our departure, but I can tell the House [of Commons] that most of our personnel have already left,” Johnson told the UK parliament.
The prime minister said that the UK did not underestimate the challenge of the NATO mission in Afghanistan and pledged to continue supporting Kabul after troops’ withdrawal.
“The international military presence in Afghanistan was never intended to be permanent. We and our NATO allies were always going to withdraw our forces. The only question was when, and there could never be a perfect moment,” Johnson added.
Meanwhile, the US has completed “more than 90 per cent” of its entire withdrawal from Afghanistan, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) had informed in a statement.
“The withdrawal process continues; US Central Command estimates that we have completed more than 90 per cent of the entire withdrawal process,” said CENTCOM.
This comes in the backdrop of the rapid increase in violence in the country amid the Taliban’s continuing stride in the country and the capture of dozens of districts throughout Afghanistan.
“As of July 5, Department of Defence has retrograded the equivalent of approximately 984 C-17 aircraft- loads of material out of Afghanistan and has turned over nearly 17,074 pieces of equipment to the Defense Logistics Agency for disposition,” the release said.
Nearly two decades after the first American troops arrived in Bagram and helped take control of the field, the transfer of the field to the Afghan military was completed last week without much fanfare.
As the Taliban have taken control of several districts across the country, US intelligence assessments have suggested the country’s civilian government could fall to the terror group within months of US forces withdrawing.
On Tuesday, Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani had said that the Taliban cannot make the Afghan government surrender even in the next one hundred years.
Ghani in a cabinet meeting also said that the Taliban and its supporters are solely responsible for the current bloodshed and destruction in the country, The Khaama Press reported.
National Security Advisor Hamdullah Muhib said that the Taliban’s territory expansion does not mean they are being welcomed by Afghans, and added that people are ready to defend their territories.
He also informed that seven black hawk choppers are soon to be handed over to Afghan National Defence and Security forces that will help bring the ongoing conflict under control. (ANI/Sputnik)
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