US gen vows to annihilate IS
New strategy ‘dead end’: Russia
KABUL, Afghanistan, Aug 24, (Agencies): Afghanistan’s security forces, with the help of US and NATO ground and air support, will annihilate the Islamic State group affiliate in the country and crush remnants of al-Qaeda, Gen. John Nicholson, the top US general in Afghanistan, vowed Thursday.
Nicholson also had a message for the Taleban: “Stop fighting against your countrymen. Stop killing innocent civilians. Stop bringing hardship and misery to the Afghan people. Lay down your arms and join Afghan society. Help build a better future for this country and your own children.”
Nicholson and Hugo Llorens, the US Embassy’s Special Chargé d’Affaires, told reporters in the capital Kabul that President Donald Trump’s new strategy for Afghanistan announced Monday was a promise to Afghans that together they would defeat terrorism and prevent terrorist groups from establishing safe havens.
“We will not fail in Afghanistan,” Nicholson said. “Our national security depends on it, as well as Afghanistan’s security, and our allies and partners.”
But Taleban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid was defiant in a telephone interview with The Associated Press: “We are not giving our guns to any one and our Taleban are fighting until the last US soldier is no longer here in Afghanistan.”
Senior US officials have said that Trump may send up to 3,900 more troops, with some deployments beginning almost immediately. Nicholson did not offer a time frame for deployment, however, saying only that “in the coming months, US Forces Afghanistan and NATO will increase its train, advise and assist efforts in Afghanistan. And we will increase our air support to Afghan security forces.”
Nicholson had particular praise for Afghanistan’s commandos and special forces known as Ktah Khas, saying they had yet to lose a battle and plans were being made to double their size.
“The Taleban have never won against the commandos and Ktah Khas,” he said. “They never will.”
Nicholson told reporters that the losses among Taleban foot soldiers have exceeded those of the Afghan National Security Forces, though he didn’t offer figures.
The US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction in its latest report released July 31 said 2,531 Afghan service members were killed in action in just the first five months of this year and another 4,238 were wounded.
Efforts
Nicholson said efforts were being made to tackle corruption within the Afghan security force, an issue that was flagged in the same July Inspector General report that identified more than 12,000 Afghan Ministry of Defense personnel that were “unaccounted for,” fearing some could be so-called “ghosts” who exist only on paper.
The top US military commander in Afghanistan said on Thursday President Donald Trump’s new strategy is a sign of a long-term commitment to what is already America’s longest war and called on Taleban insurgents to agree to peace talks.
Meanwhile, Moscow believes that Washington’s bet on using of force in US President Donald Trump’s new strategy for Afghanistan is “a dead end”, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a news conference on Thursday.
Trump has approved an extended American presence in Afghanistan, although neither he nor his military leaders have provided any specifics about troop numbers or timelines.
In related news, Pakistan’s political and military leaders have rejected President Donald Trump’s allegation that Islamabad is harboring militants who battle US forces in Afghanistan.
Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and army chiefs met for hours in Islamabad to deliberate their response after Trump on Monday lashed out at Pakistan, an ostensible US ally, and blamed it for violence in neighboring Afghanistan.
Trump also demanded Islamabad stop giving sanctuary to “agents of chaos, violence and terror.”
Trump’s remarks drew nationwide condemnation in Pakistan and the opposition has asked Abbasi to cancel a scheduled visit by Pakistan’s foreign minister to Washington.
The National Security Committee — Pakistan’s top forum on issues relating to the country’s defense and security — said after Thursday’s meeting that “scapegoating Pakistan will not help in stabilizing Afghanistan.”
China’s top diplomat has defended Pakistan’s “important role” in Afghanistan in a phone call with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, after President Trump accused Islamabad of harbouring militants.
Trump, in unveiling his Afghanistan strategy this week, said Pakistan was playing a double game by accepting American aid while giving safe haven to insurgents who kill Afghan and NATO troops.
But China State Councillor Yang Jiechi told Tillerson Wednesday that “we should attach importance to the important role that Pakistan plays in the Afghanistan issue, respect (Pakistan’s) sovereignty and legitimate security concerns,” according to a foreign ministry statement.