KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) – U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin arrived in Kabul on Sunday for his first trip to Afghanistan as head of the Pentagon, amid questions about how long U.S. troops will remain in the country.
Afghanistan state radio and television and popular television TOLO reported on Austin’s arrival in Kabul from India. He met with senior Afghan government officials, including President Ashraf Ghani.
According to the Washington Post, which was part of the small U.S. media group traveling with him, Austin said senior U.S. officials want “a responsible end to this conflict” and “a transition to something else.”
“There will always be concerns about things one way or another, but I think there’s a lot of energy focused on doing what it takes to achieve a responsible end and a negotiated deal in the war,” Austin said.
President Joe Biden said last week in an interview with ABC News that it will be “difficult” for the United States to meet the May 1 deadline to withdraw troops from Afghanistan. But he said that if the deadline was extended, which is set out in an agreement between the administration of former President Donald Trump and the Taliban, it would not be “much longer.”
In response, the Taliban warned of consequences on Friday if the United States does not meet the deadline. Suhail Shaheen, a member of the Taliban negotiating team, told reporters that if U.S. troops stay beyond May 1, “it will be a kind of violation of the agreement. This infraction would not be on our side. … Your rape will have a reaction. “
Austin met with Ghani and, according to a statement released by the presidential palace, both sides condemned the escalation of violence in Afghanistan. The deadline of May 1 was not mentioned. Washington is reviewing the deal the Trump administration signed with the Taliban last year and has stepped up pressure from both sides in the protracted conflict to find a quick route to a peace deal.
In a letter to Ghani earlier this month, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said it was urgent to make peace in Afghanistan and that all options remained on the table. He also warned that the Taliban are likely to gain rapid territorial gains if U.S. and NATO troops withdraw. The United States spends $ 4 billion a year to maintain Afghanistan’s national security forces.
The Taliban warned the United States not to defy the May 1 deadline at a press conference in Moscow the day after meeting with Afghan government negotiators and international observers to try to start a stalled peace process. end the decades of war in Afghanistan.
Washington has also presented the Taliban and the Afghan government with an eight-page peace proposal, which both sides are reviewing. It calls for a so-called interim “peace government” to shepherd Afghanistan toward constitutional reform and elections.
Ghani has resisted an interim administration by having his critics accuse him of clinging to power. He says the election alone would be acceptable to bring about a change of government.
Both the U.S. and Kabul have called for a reduction in violence that will lead to a ceasefire. The Taliban say the ceasefire would be part of the peace talks. However, the insurgent movement has not attacked US or NATO troops since the agreement was signed.
However, U.S. military commanders and NATO leaders have argued that the Taliban have not lived up to their share of the peace deal, which includes a reduction in violence and separation. 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 main issue is that the Taliban must reduce violence, the Taliban must negotiate in good faith and the Taliban must stop supporting international terrorist groups like Al Qaeda,” he said.
Austin has said little about the record on the ongoing stalemate. After a virtual meeting of NATO defense ministers, Austin told reporters that “our presence in Afghanistan depends on the conditions and the Taliban must fulfill their commitments.”
Austin’s stoppage in Afghanistan marks his first return to a U.S. war zone in the Middle East since he took office at the Pentagon. But he spent much time in the region during his service as commander of the army. 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, which oversees the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The visit to Afghanistan comes at the end of his first trip abroad to Austin as a secretary. After a stop in Hawaii, he went to Japan and South Korea, where he and Secretary of State Blinken met with their defense and foreign ministers.
___
Associated Press writer Kathy Gannon contributed from Islamabad. Baldor reported from Washington