The top US general in Afghanistan relinquished command on Monday at a ceremony in the capital, the latest symbolic gesture bringing America's longest war nearer to an end even as the Taliban continue a bloody onslaught across the country.
Gen Austin “Scott” Miller — the highest-ranked officer on the ground in the war-torn nation — handed command to Gen Kenneth McKenzie, who will oversee remaining operations from a US-based headquarters.
Miller has been in Afghanistan since 2018, but was charged more recently by commander-in-chief President Joe Biden with organising the final withdrawal of US troops, to be completed by the end of August.
The pace of the pullout — and multiple offensives launched recently by the Taliban — have raised fears that Afghanistan's security forces could be swiftly overwhelmed, particularly without vital US air support.
Biden has made clear, however, that America's involvement in a war launched after the September 11, 2001, attacks has to end, and Afghans must chart their own future.
Most of the 2,500 US and 7,500 Nato troops who were in Afghanistan when Biden detailed the final withdrawal in April have now gone, leaving Afghan troops to fight an emboldened Taliban seemingly bent on a military victory.
Peace talks between the insurgents and the government supposedly taking place in Doha have largely fizzled out.
“The command of this coalition has been the highlight of my military career,” said Miller, who survived a Taliban assassination attempt in 2018 that killed a senior Afghan official he was meeting with.
“I do know that the people of Afghanistan will be in my heart and on my mind, for the rest of my life,” he added, after handing the coalition force flag to McKenzie.
The US has already handed over to Afghan forces the vast Bagram Air Base, from where coalition forces carried out operations against the Taliban and jihadist groups for the past two decades.
About 650 American service members are expected to remain in Kabul, guarding Washington's sprawling diplomatic compound where Monday's ceremony took place.
Mckenzie, who praised Miller for overseeing the withdrawal “safely and sensibly”, said the American commitment to Afghanistan would continue despite the pullout.
“That we will do so from bases outside of Afghanistan indicates a change in posture but not a change in our resolve to support our partners,” he said, as top Afghan officials and military officers attended the ceremony inside the heavily fortified green zone.
from The Dawn News - Home https://ift.tt/3ka0xjz
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