BLINKEN FLIES TO KABUL TO TRY TO REASSURE AFGHANS
▶ Secretary of State’s visit follows President Joe Biden’s confirmation of America’s withdrawal
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Afghan President Ashraf Ghani in Kabul on Thursday, a day after President Joe Biden said Washington would end its military mission in Afghanistan and withdraw all troops by September 11.
Mr Biden said he spoke by phone with Mr Ghani before his speech on Wednesday.
Despite the looming withdrawal, the US administration promised to continue security, humanitarian and diplomatic support to Afghanistan.
Mr Blinken’s surprise visit to Kabul was to “affirm the United States’ continued commitment to Afghanistan”, State Department spokesman Ned Price said.
“Secretary Blinken made clear that the United States stands with Afghanistan and its people in support of a peaceful and prosperous future.
“Secretary Blinken and President Ghani discussed our shared investment in Afghanistan and the importance of preserving the gains of the last 20 years, especially in building a strong civil society and protecting the rights of women and girls.
“They also discussed counter-terrorism co-operation and our shared commitment to ensure Al Qaeda never regains a foothold in Afghanistan.”
Mr Blinken also met the head of the Afghanistan High Commission for National Reconciliation, Dr Abdullah Abdullah.
“Secretary Blinken and Dr Abdullah discussed the importance of continuing to work towards a negotiated political settlement and permanent and comprehensive ceasefire,” Mr Price said.
“Secretary Blinken reiterated the US commitment to the peace process and that we will use our full diplomatic, economic and humanitarian toolkit to support the future the Afghan people want, including the gains made by Afghan women.”
Mr Blinken travelled to Afghanistan after meeting Nato allies in Brussels. The US has about 3,500 troops in Afghanistan fighting alongside its allies as part of a Nato mission that consists of about 11,000 personnel.
However, Mr Blinken indicated that the Nato mission would end alongside the US mission during a meeting on Wednesday with Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
Under former president Donald Trump, the US last year agreed to withdraw its forces from Afghanistan by May 1 as part of talks with the Taliban, who criticised Mr Biden for pushing past that deadline.
Hours after President Joe Biden announced the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan by the end of the summer, businessman Mohammad Sohail was making tough decisions at his home in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif.
Mr Sohail, a flour merchant, was disappointed to hear that the Americans would pull out by September 11, the 20th anniversary of the attacks that prompted an invasion in search of Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
The deadline, however, is an extension of the previously agreed date of May 1, brokered by former US president Donald Trump with the Taliban.
In response to that extension, the insurgent group withdrew from scheduled intra-Afghan negotiations in Turkey, bringing the peace process to a grinding halt.
Fearful of what the future holds, Mr Sohail, 38, is weighing up his options.
“I might move my family out of the country, because security might deteriorate,” he said.
“I had planned to expand my business and was going to transfer some cash to make more investments but now I will save that for emergencies.
“It is not just me. Other businessmen are also worried of losing everything in case of a war. Or worse, a civil war.
“It took me over 10 years to establish this business so that my family can survive without seeking help from others. Now I might lose everything.”
A similar sense of dread was expressed by Mahbooba Ibrahimi, 45, a university professor from Kabul, who used a fake name for fear of reprisals.
“Americans invaded my country on the pretext of helping me, an Afghan woman, achieve freedoms. But now they leave us behind in the hands of Taliban who still mistreat us,” Ms Ibrahimi said.
“How can they be so sure that I won’t be locked up again when they abandon us?” she said, recalling the Taliban invasion of Kabul in the 1990s that forced her to quit her studies and stay at home.
Ms Ibrahimi, like many women, fears the withdrawal could embolden the Taliban.
The group has a brutal history of depriving women of education and work, and they continue to mistreat them in the areas they control.
Unlike Mr Sohail and Ms Ibrahimi, university student Jamshid Ahmadi, from Maidan Wardak province, does not have the experience of life under a Taliban regime.
He was only two years old when the insurgent group was overthrown by the US forces and grew up in a relatively calm, postwar society.
“In my 22 years of life, I have seen all the ups and downs of this country,” he said.
“There were times I would have a road trip to Kandahar and Ghazni with my father. We would stop for meals in Maidan Wardak where we hail from. But that is all unimaginable now.”
He has not visited his village, about 70 kilometres from the Afghan capital, for a long time.
“Hope is depleting, and the US are taking what’s left of it away with them,” he said.
Despite assurances from the US administration of continued support for the Afghan forces, many lack faith in their ability to keep the insurgents at bay.
“First they said the Americans would leave, but they announced Nato would leave, too. Of course we have some of the bravest soldiers in the Afghan army, but once the foreigners leave, it will impact the support they get in terms of salaries, fuel and ammunition,” Mr Sohail said.
“How can they fight, if they can’t even feed their families?” Ms Ibrahimi agreed.
“We couldn’t defeat the Taliban when we had the support of 45 countries,” she said. “How can we defeat them alone now?”