As the U.S. tries to get troops out of Afghanistan, a Taliban offensive has caused the U.S. to send more troops to Afghanistan
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby delivering the news of more troops amid the withdrawal. Photo: Andrew Harnik/AP/Shutterstock In the past week, the Taliban has waged a devastatingly effective campaign against the Afghan Armed Forces, capturing at least 12 provincial capitals, including Herat and Kandahar, the country’s second and third largest cities.
Despite this commitment to Afghanistan-ization, the prospect of the fall of Kabul before the 20-year anniversary of 9/11 has the Pentagon at least temporarily rethinking the plan. As these things often go in the forever-war on terror, the drawdown has been temporarily reversed. On Thursday, Department of Defense spokesperson John Kirby announced the U.S. would send an additional 3,000 troops to the Afghan capital to help provide security for the evacuation of the American embassy.
In recent days, contingencies in Kabul have included assassinations of government officials, car bombings, and refugees from north of the city being forced to live in its parks. As the U.S. provides more security for the exit, negotiators are also trying to get the Taliban to agree not to overrun the embassy by reportedly claiming the Biden administration will permanently cut off aid to a Taliban-controlled Afghanistan if the embassy is attacked.
The Taliban’s swift military successes and reports of atrocities in their wake have already shown that a smooth U.S. departure was never a real option. If the situation worsens, the Washington Post reports that the U.S. could send as many as 3,500 more combat troops to Kabul. That would double the number of soldiers in-country above the levels seen there in April, when Biden agreed not to renege on a Trump-era promise to withdraw U.S. forces after 20 years of continuous war.
Deutschland Neuesten Nachrichten, Deutschland Schlagzeilen
Similar News:Sie können auch ähnliche Nachrichten wie diese lesen, die wir aus anderen Nachrichtenquellen gesammelt haben.
US keeping distance as Afghan forces face Taliban routAfghan government forces are collapsing even faster than U.S. military leaders thought possible just a few months ago when President Joe Biden ordered a full withdrawal. Biden has made clear he has no intention of reversing the decision he made last spring, even as the outcome seems to point toward a Taliban takeover. With most U.S. troops now gone and the Taliban accelerating their battlefield gains, American military leaders are not pressing him to change his mind.
Weiterlesen »
Taliban take 10th Afghan provincial capital in blitzKABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Taliban captured a provincial capital near Kabul on Thursday, the 10th the insurgents have taken over a weeklong blitz across Afghanistan as the U.S. and NATO prepare to withdraw entirely from the country after decades of war.
Weiterlesen »
Taliban executions of surrendering Afghan troops could constitute war crimes—U.S. embassyHuman Rights Watch has reported that Taliban forces are killing detained soldiers and police, as well as civilians believed to have ties to the Afghan government.
Weiterlesen »
Afghan Taliban Seize Herat, Move Into Kandahar After Taking GhazniThe accelerating Taliban victories have demoralized Afghan government forces and sown fears that it is only a matter of days before the insurgents mount a large-scale attack on the nation’s capital, home to six million people
Weiterlesen »
Pakistani forces clash with Afghan protesters at border crossing shut by TalibanPakistani forces clashed on Thursday with hundreds of Afghans stranded on Pakistan's side of a commercially vital border crossing with Afghanistan after its closure by Taliban insurgents, Pakistani security officials said.
Weiterlesen »
Taliban take another Afghan provincial capital, KandaharKABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghan officials say the Taliban have taken another provincial capital, the southern city of Kandahar in the province with the same name. It's the twelfth provincial capital out of Afghanistan's 34 that the insurgents have taken in their weeklong blitz that swept over much of the country.
Weiterlesen »