(25 Jun 2021) FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: 4332366
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin met with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and other key leaders in Afghanistan for defense talks at the Pentagon on Friday.
Roughly 650 U.S. troops are expected to remain in Afghanistan to provide security for diplomats after the main American military force completes its withdrawal, which is set to be largely done in the next two weeks, U.S. officials have told The Associated Press.
Moreover, several hundred additional American forces will remain at the Kabul airport, potentially until September. They'll assist Turkish troops providing security, a temporary move until a more formal Turkey-led security operation is in place, the officials said Thursday.
Overall, officials said the U.S. expects to have American and coalition military command, its leadership, and most troops out by July Fourth, or shortly after that, meeting an aspirational deadline that commanders developed months ago.
Austin and Ghani each spoke briefly at a photo availability ahead of the discussions by the two sides.
"I'd like to stress again, right from the outset that the Department of Defense is deeply invested in the security and stability of Afghanistan, and in the pursuit of a negotiated settlement that ends the war," Austin said.
Ghani paid tribute to the men and women of the U.S. military who lost their lives during the conflict in Afghanistan. He also disputed the narrative that the U.S. is abandoning Afghanistan.
"The false narrative of abandonment is just false," he said.
The departure of the bulk of the more than 4,000 troops that have been in the country in recent months is unfolding well before President Joe Biden’s Sept. 11 deadline for withdrawal. And it comes amid accelerating Taliban battlefield gains, fueling fears that the Afghan government and its military could collapse in a matter of months.
Officials have repeatedly stressed that security at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul is a critical requirement to keeping any U.S. diplomatic staff in Afghanistan. Still, the decision to keep additional troops there for several more months makes it more complicated for the Biden administration to declare a true end to America’s longest war until later this fall.
The roughly 650 U.S. troops that are planned to be a more permanent force presence in Afghanistan will provide security for the U.S. Embassy and some ongoing support at the airport.
According to the officials, Turkey has largely agreed to provide security at the airport as long as it receives support from American forces. U.S. and Turkish military officials are meeting in Ankara this week to finalize arrangements.
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