The United States military estimates that it has completed up twenty-five percent of troops pullout from Afghanistan.
On Tuesday, the command, which oversees operations in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, said that CENTCOM (U.S. Central Command) estimates that they have completed between 16 percent to 25 percent of the whole retrograde process.
Just in: @CENTCOM estimates that DOD has completed between 16-25% of the Afghanistan withdrawal. The U.S. has officially handed over five facilities to the Afghan Ministry of Defense.
— Lara Seligman (@laraseligman) May 25, 2021
CENTCOM also stated it had removed almost 160 C-17 planeloads of material from Afghanistan and had turned over about 10000 pieces of equipment to the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) for disposition.
The United States President Biden announced in April that American forces would leave Afghanistan by Sep. 11, after nearly twenty years of military involvement in the war-torn nation.
As of the American President’s announcement, at least 2500 U.S. forces made up part of NATO’s Afghanistan job, including less than ten thousand troops. The removal of the America-led the North Atlantic Alliance force has sparked fears that Afghanistan’s civil war could escalate and spiral out of control.
Afghan civilians have been killed in a string of attacks since 1st May when America formally began its removal, and the Taliban has made territorial gains across the nation, including in Laghman in the east, Farah province in the west, Helmand province in the south, and Baghlan province in the north.
It is still uncertain whether the Taliban would keep its commitment made in Feb. last year to remove ties with Al-Qaida. The terror group was accountable for the Sep. 11, 2001, attacks, which killed some three-thousand people on U.S. soil.
Focus is on Responsiveness
Mitch McConnell, United States Senate Minority Leader, urged Joe Biden on Tuesday to reassess the decision to withdraw, as his military and diplomatic teams confront him with the consequences and risks.
McConnell said when they’re gone, there is every reason to believe Al-Qaeda would regroup in its distinguished safe haven. Moreover, he said giving up the high ground while the adversary is still on the battleground is not a tactical move.
On Tuesday, John Kirby, Pentagon Press Secretary, told reporters the enemy at play in Afghanistan is terror clusters with dwindling power since America entered the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.
American troops killed the leader of Al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, who orchestrated the Sep. 11 attacks during an invasion on his complex in Abbottabad, Pakistan, in May 2011.
American defense authorities have argued that planning for how America would respond to threats from Afghanistan once the withdrawal is complete is ongoing, hinting in past weeks that there has been some progress on securing basing promises to position American counter-terrorism forces better. But despite some optimism, government officials have yet to declare any certain measures.
On Tuesday, the Pentagon’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Special Operations and Combatting Terrorism, Milancy Harris, told a webinar that it’s still a work on track.
McConnell perceived country’s neighbors Pakistan, Iran, and Russian-influenced Central Asian countries are not just likely to let them base significant anti-terrorism units in their states.
Harris added that the government works each day to make sure they think through and take a prudent planning policy to the pullout.
Milancy Harris said, calling United States anti-terrorism efforts in Afghanistan until now an example of how the military could work efficiently to counter terror groups that focus is on responsiveness and scalability.
Bases handed over to Afghans
British and the United States forces vacated several bases in the country’s South-side following the combat mission’s end in 2014 when the NATO-led Operation Resolute Support started, and Afghan forces took control of countrywide security. However, US troops returned to Helmand to push back mounting Taliban attacks in 2018.
Source: Web
The bases handed over to Afghan troops since 2015 include Forward Operating Base Gamberi, Camp Bost, Forward Operating Base Lightning in Paktia, and Tarin Kowt in Uruzgan province. And others closed during the phase include DeAlencar in Nangarhar, Jones in Kunduz, Bishop in Kabul, Shaheen in Balkh, Qalat in Zabul, Maymana in Faryab. Bagram Airbase and Nangarhar Airbase remain under American control.
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