US Secretary of Defense on surprise visit to Afghanistan
Secretary of State for Defense James Lloyd during his meeting with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani in Kabul on March 21, 2021. AP
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US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin made a surprise visit to Afghanistan on Sunday, less than six weeks from the date set for the end of the US withdrawal of troops from that country in an agreement with the Taliban .
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On his arrival in Afghanistan, Lloyd Austin spoke with President Ashraf Ghani days after Joe Biden felt it would be "
difficult
" to withdraw all American troops by May 1 and the insurgents put warns Washington against delay.
For its part, the government in Kabul would like to keep US forces present as long as possible because of the vital air cover they provide.
After his talks with Ashraf Ghani, Lloyd Austin did not comment on the end date for the withdrawal contained in the deal last year with the Taliban.
"
It is the domain of my boss
", "
it is
(...)
the decision that the president
(Biden)
will take in his time,
" he confined himself to telling reporters on this subject.
I'm very grateful for my time with President @ashrafghani today.
I came to Afghanistan to listen and learn.
This visit has been very helpful for me, and it will inform my participation in the review we are undergoing here with @POTUS.
pic.twitter.com/ZE39tXZqvg
- Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III (@SecDef) March 21, 2021
The United States concluded in February 2020 in Qatar
a historic agreement
with the Taliban which provides for the withdrawal of all American soldiers by May 1 in exchange for security guarantees and the opening of unprecedented direct negotiations between the insurgents. and the authorities in Kabul.
But the inter-Afghan negotiations which began in Doha in September are stalling and fighting has intensified on the ground, especially in rural areas.
The Biden administration further felt that the Taliban had failed to keep their commitment to permanently break with jihadist groups such as al-Qaeda.
Still 2,500 American soldiers present in Afghanistan
Only 2,500 American soldiers remain in Afghanistan, where the United States intervened militarily in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks on their soil.
Asked about the Taliban's warning about the possible "
consequences
" if American troops had not all left on May 1, Lloyd Austin, who himself led a division in Afghanistan in September 2003 in August 2005, was intended to be reassuring.
"
I have great confidence
(in him)
and in his ability to protect our soldiers,
" he replied, speaking of General Austin Miller, the commander of American and NATO forces in Afghanistan.
Mediators in the Afghan conflict on Thursday urged the Taliban to abandon their spring offensive after talks in Moscow.
Discussions in the Russian capital were organized in parallel to those that began in September in Doha and those that Turkey wants to host in April in Istanbul.
The US Secretary of Defense, of whom no details were given for security reasons about his visit to Afghanistan before it was over, had previously visited Japan, South Korea
and India
.
Read also Afghanistan: new conference in Moscow in the presence of the Taliban and the American envoy
(
With AFP
)
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Afghanistan
United States
Taliban