Just some weeks before the United States scheduled to end its combat operation in Afghanistan, the Biden government is sending three thousand fresh troops to the Kabul airport to help with a partial withdrawal of the American Embassy. Moreover, the decision of the administration highlights the extraordinary speed of a Taliban seizure of much of the country, including their takeover of Kandahar on Thursday.
The U.S. State Department said that their embassy in Kabul would continue functioning, but the dramatic Thursday’s decision of the government to bring additional American troops is a sign of weakening confidence in the strength of the Afghan government and its security forces to stop the surge of Taliban group. Additionally, the announcement from the department came a few hours after the insurgent group took control of the western city of Herat along with Ghazni.
The partial United States Embassy evacuation and the advancement from Taliban increasingly isolate Kabul – the capital of Afghanistan and the home to millions of Afghans. Ned Price, the spokesperson of the State Department, clarifies that this is not an evacuation, and this is not negligence, and also, it is not a wholesale withdrawal. However, it is a decrease in the U.S. civilian footprint in terms of size.
The United States warned Taliban Officials to Retaliate if they Attack Americans
The President of the U.S., Joe Biden, discussed with senior national security officials and then released the directive for three thousand additional temporary troops. Lloyd Austin, the Defense Secretary, and Antony Blinken, the Secretary of State, talked to Ashraf Ghani, the President of Afghanistan, on Thursday about the recent situation of the country. The U.S. officials also warned the officials of the insurgent group that the United States would strictly respond if the Taliban attacked Americans during the short-term United States military deployments.
The Ministry of Defense of the British government said Thursday that it would temporarily send about six hundred troops to Afghanistan to help the nationals of the United Kingdom leave Afghanistan. Likewise, Canada will deploy its special forces in Afghanistan to help Canadian staff members to leave Kabul.
Source: Web
John Kirby, the top spokesperson of Pentagon, said that along with sending three infantry battalions of forces – one from the Army and two from the Marine Corps – to the Kabul airport, the Pentagon will deploy thirty-five hundred to four thousand troops from a fighting brigade of the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division to Kuwait for a standby force. He said the force would be on reserve in case if they need more than the three thousand going to Kabul.
Special Immigrant Visa for Afghan Nationals who Worked for the U.S.
In addition, the officials will send around one thousand Air Force and Army troops, including medical personnel and military police, to Qatar in coming days to support the effort of the State Department to speed up its processing of Special Immigrant Visa applications from Afghan nationals who previously worked for the United States government and facing threats from the Taliban.
.@StateDeptSpox: We expect to drawdown to a core diplomatic presence in Afghanistan in the coming weeks. The U.S. will continue the processing and operations of the Special Immigrant Visa program and will continue to engage in diplomacy with the Afghan government and people. pic.twitter.com/rzrazyz2mM
— Department of State (@StateDept) August 12, 2021
Kirby said that the three thousand American troops who are to arrive at the Afghan’s capital airport in the next day or two are to assist with security purposes at the Kabul airport and to help process the departure of U.S. embassy personnel – not to involve in the Afghan administration’s war with the Taliban. In April, the U.S. President decided to end American military involvement in the war and scheduled to complete the withdrawal by 31st August.
The United States already evacuate most of its troops from Afghanistan, but it kept around six hundred and fifty troops in the country to support United States diplomatic security, including at the airport. Moreover, the capability of the United States-trained Afghan army is looking increasingly dim. According to the latest military evaluation, Afghan capital could come under Taliban control as early as September and, if the current gains of the insurgent group continue, the nation could fall to the Taliban within a few months.
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