KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) – US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin arrived in Kabul on Sunday on his first trip to Afghanistan as head of the Pentagon, amid swirling questions about how long US troops will stay in the country.
State-controlled radio and television Afghanistan and the popular TOLO Television reported Austin’s arrival in India from Kabul. He met with senior Afghan government officials, including President Ashraf Ghani.
According to the Washington Post, which was among the small group of American media who traveled with him, Austin said senior U.S. officials “want to see a responsible end to this conflict” and “a transition to something else.” .
“There will always be concern in one way or another, but I think there is a lot of energy focused on doing what is necessary to bring about a responsible end and a negotiated settlement for the war,” Austin said.
President Joe Biden said in an ABC News interview last week that it would be ‘difficult’ for the US to meet a May 1 deadline to withdraw troops from Afghanistan. But he said that if the deadline, set out in an agreement between former President Donald Trump’s government and the Taliban, was extended, it would not be ‘much longer’.
In response, the Taliban on Friday warned of consequences if the US does not meet the deadline. Suhail Shaheen, a member of the Taliban negotiating team, told reporters that if US troops stayed longer than May 1, ‘it would be a kind of violation of the agreement. That transgression would not be on our part. … Their transgression will respond. ”
Austin met with Ghani and according to a statement issued by the presidential palace, both sides condemned the increase in violence in Afghanistan. There was no mention of the May 1 deadline. Washington is reviewing the agreement the Trump administration signed with the Taliban last year and has increased pressure on both sides in the protracted conflict to find a quick way to a peace deal.
In a sharply worded letter to Ghani earlier this month, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that there was an urgent need for peace in Afghanistan and that all options remained on the table. He also warned that the Taliban were likely to gain territorial gains quickly if US and NATO troops withdrew. United States spends $ 4 billion a year to maintain Afghanistan’s national security forces.
The Taliban warned the United States to face the May 1 deadline for a press conference in Moscow, the day after it met with senior Afghan government negotiators and international observers to launch a stalemate in peace to end Afghanistan’s decades of war.
Washington also gave the Taliban and the Afghan government an eight-page peace proposal, reviewing both sides. It calls for an interim so-called ‘peace government’ that will keep Afghanistan in the direction of constitutional reform and elections.
Ghani resisted an interim government which caused his critics to accuse him of holding on to power. He says elections alone would be acceptable to bring about a change of government.
Both the US and Kabul have called for a reduction in violence leading to a ceasefire. The Taliban says a ceasefire will be part of the peace talks. However, the rebel movement has not attacked US or NATO troops since the signing of the agreement.
However, US military commanders and NATO leaders have argued that the Taliban have not complied with their part of the peace deal, which includes a reduction in violence and a separation from al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said last month that the alliance “will only leave when the time is right” and when the conditions are met.
“The key issue is that the Taliban must reduce violence, the Taliban must negotiate in good faith and the Taliban must stop supporting international terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda,” he said.
Austin said little on record about the lingering stalemate. After a virtual meeting of NATO defense ministers, Austin told reporters that “our presence in Afghanistan is based on conditions, and that the Taliban must meet their obligations.”
Austin’s stop in Afghanistan is his first return to a U.S. war zone in the Middle East since holding the Pentagon post. But he spent a lot of time in the region during his service as an army commander. Austin, a retired four-star general, served in Afghanistan as commander of the 10th Mountain Division. And from 2013-2016, he was the head of the U.S. Central Command, overseeing the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The visit to Afghanistan comes at the end of Austin’s first overseas trip as secretary. After a stop in Hawaii, he went to Japan and South Korea, where he and Foreign Minister Blinken met with their defense and foreign ministers.
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Associated Press author Kathy Gannon contributed from Islamabad. Baldor reported from Washington