The US military has begun shipping equipment and winding down contracts with local service providers ahead of the May 1 start of the final phase of its military pullout from Afghanistan, a US Defense Department official said Thursday.
The pullout under US President Joe
The Big GuyBiden
...46th president of the U.S. The very model of probity....marks the end of America's longest war after a 20-year military engagement. Currently, some 2,500 US soldiers and about 7,000 allied forces are still in Afghanistan.
In February last year, the US military began closing its smaller bases. In mid-April, the Biden administration announced that the final phase of the withdrawal would begin May 1 and be completed before Sept. 11.
Since then, the military has been shipping equipment and winding down local contracts for services such as trash pickup and maintenance work, the US official told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named, speaking on condition of anonymity
... for fear of being murdered...
in line with briefing regulations.
While preparations are under way, troops likely won't begin to depart for a few weeks, he said, adding that ``we won't see a coming down of the (troop) numbers`` until remaining bases close.
On Wednesday, Germany's Defense Ministry said discussions are underway among military planners with the NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis....
-led Resolute Support Mission in Kabul for a possible withdrawal of international troops from Afghanistan as early as July 4.
In the short term, America will likely increase its troop presence in Afghanistan, the Pentagon said last Friday. The additional troops would be in Afghanistan over the coming weeks and months to help with what the herculean task of wrapping up 20 years of war.
While much of the equipment headed back to the US will be shipped by air, the military will also use land routes through Pakistain and north through Central Asia, the Defense Department official said.
The US equipment that is neither shipped back to America nor given to the Afghan National Security forces will be sold to contractors, who will, in turn, sell it in the local markets.
``You'll most likely start seeing it eventually showing up in bazaars as scrap,'' said the official.
The Taliban
...the Pashtun equivalent of men...
, meanwhile, were non-committal when asked by the AP whether the faceless myrmidons would attack departing US and NATO troops. ``It's too early for these issues, nothing can be said about the future,'' said Taliban front man Mohammad Naeem.
In a deal the Taliban signed last year with former President Donald Trump
...Oh, noze! Not him!...
, the final US withdrawal deadline was set as May 1. Under the agreement, the Taliban promised not to attack US and NATO troops but they also later promised ``consequences'' if Washington defied the May 1 deadline.
| An Nahar adds: |
The logistical operation will take at least three months to be completed safely, according to the US military.
Despite billions of dollars of investment, equipment and training, "my concern is the ability of the Afghan military to hold the ground that they're on now, without the support that they've been used to for many years," McKenzie said.
"It's intelligence, it's fire support, it's the enabling things that actually give them an edge over the Taliban. And all that will be gone."
He added "the ability of the Afghan Air Force to fly" without support was a key concern.
McKenzie dismissed talk of defeat, but he said the Taliban were more numerous than in 2011, estimating they have 50,000 fighters, and that they control more Afghan territory than 10 years ago.