ISLAMABAD – Under the Afghanistan peace accord, the US is initiallysupposed to cut its troop presence from about 12,000 currently to 8,600 bymid-July, and close five of its roughly 20 bases across the country.
Troops have started leaving one base in Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmandprovince in the south, and another base in Herat in the west, a US officialtold *AFP* on the condition of anonymity.
Even with the drawdown, US forces retain “all the military means andauthorities to accomplish our objectives”, Colonel Sonny Leggett, spokesmanfor US Forces-Afghanistan, said on Monday, referring to Americancounterterrorism operations and support for Afghan forces.
Helmand, which along with Kandahar province is considered a Talibanstronghold, is where US and British forces fought some of the bloodiestcampaigns of the 18-year war.
Omar Zwak, spokesman for Helmand’s governor, told *AFP* that “20 to 30”foreigners had left Lashkar Gah since the weekend.
Under the terms of the withdrawal deal, the Taliban are supposed to tacklejihadists such as the Islamic State group and Al Qaeda, as well as holdtalks with the Afghan government that were due to start on Tuesday.
Read Top Stories
But Kabul is in disarray and appears unable to present a unified front tonegotiate with the Taliban.
On Monday, President Ashraf Ghani was inaugurated for a second termfollowing an election that was marred by fraud allegations while his rival,former chief executive Abdullah Abdullah, also declared himself winner andswore himself in as premier in a parallel ceremony.
Washington has denounced Abdullah’s self-inauguration, urging unity inKabul ahead of negotiations with the Taliban. -APP / AFP
