ARMAMENTS

The US military confirmed Tuesday that it has almost completed the withdrawal of its personnel from Afghanistan, where the authorities deploy hundreds of soldiers and pro-government paramilitaries to end a large-scale Taliban offensive in the north.

US President Joe Biden said in April that he wanted the withdrawal of US troops to be completed by the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. More than two months prior to this, the US Pentagon has completed “more than 90%” of its withdrawal process from the Asian country.

Last week, the last US troops left Bagram Air Base, the largest in Afghanistan.

About 50 miles (50 km) north of Kabul has been the operations hub since the US invasion in the country following the attacks against New York and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. The White House said on Friday that the last US troops will have left Afghanistan by the end of August.

Also read: Germany completes withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan

“Major attacks” broke out in several Afghan provinces yesterday, but Islamist insurgents have concentrated their efforts in the northern part of the country, which have captured several dozen regions after the US began to withdraw their forces.

In view of the Taliban’s alarming advance towards the north, far from their traditional strongholds in the south, the Afghan government has decided to send reinforcements and prepare a counterattack. “We intend to launch a major offensive to retake the territories we lost,” said Faudan Aman, a spokesman for the Pentagon.

Afghan army officials have acknowledged that they have not been able to protect isolated rural areas from Taliban attacks, yet stating they will focus their efforts on ensuring the security of urban centers, major roads and border towns. The withdrawal of US and NATO forces from Bagram, one of the final stages of their withdrawal, has, however, reduced the vital American air support provided to the Afghan army.

The Taliban have been controlling the main border crossing with Tajikistan and other outposts through the neighbouring country since late June as well as areas leading to Kunduz, the provincial capital of the province, about 50 kilometers away from the border. Faced with the situation, on Monday Tajik President Emamali Rahmon ordered the “mobilization of 20,000 reservists” to strengthen border security.

Fighting in the north has prompted Russia to close down its consulate in Mazar-i-Sharif, the capital of Balkh province and one of Afghanistan’s main urban centers near the border with Uzbekistan. Germany, which has already completed the withdrawal of its own troops last week, has done the same. The Taliban on Sunday seized control of the strategically important Panjwai district in their old stronghold of southern Kandahar province. On Tuesday, they confirmed that they had occupied another district in the neighboring province of Nimroz.

Also read: Afghanistan | The country is falling into the hands of the Taliban – Map of the occupied territories – VIDEO

Source: CNA