The U.S. military troop withdrawal from Afghanistan is 90% complete, U.S. Central Command announced Tuesday. The news comes days after U.S. and international forces left Bagram Airfield, which has served for nearly two decades as the center of the U.S. fight to remove Taliban forces from power and take down al-Qaida terrorists responsible for killing thousands of Americans on September 11, 2001. Pentagon press secretary John Kirby on Tuesday defended the military’s recent pullout from Bagram, the execution of which had caused local Afghan commanders to express surprise at the departure and led to a security lapse that allowed looters onto the base.  Pentagon spokesman John Kirby speaks during a briefing at the Pentagon in Washington, July 6, 2021.Kirby confirmed that the U.S. military withheld from its Afghan allies the specific time it would complete a withdrawal, citing “operational security,” but said the departure “wasn’t done in some shroud of secrecy.” The Associated Press reported Monday that Afghan military officials said U.S. forces had left the base overnight Friday without notifying the new Afghan commander. “I can’t speak for how Afghan leadership briefed their people. What I can tell you is that there was coordination between General (Scott) Miller and his staff and senior Afghan military and civilian leaders about the turnover of Bagram. That I know. And that there was, even to the degree of there being a walkthrough,” Kirby said. FILE – Armed men who are against Taliban uprising stand at their check post, at the Ghorband District, Parwan province, Afghanistan, June 29, 2021.Since then, the Taliban have more than doubled the number of districts they control, according to the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Long War Journal. The Taliban have grabbed hold of more than 120 districts in the past two months, expanding from 73 to 195 Taliban-controlled districts.”We had some glitches as a result of the retrograde and the additional pressure on the Afghan air force. … These were some kind of teeth(ing) problems that we are overcoming,” Hamdullah Mohib, the Afghan national security adviser, told reporters in Kabul. The adviser explained that a lack of resources, particularly those related to the Afghan air force, made it hard for authorities to sustain much-needed supplies to remote security bases after foreign troops had begun pulling out of the country.”Those areas came under pressure, and the way it (the drawdown) happened, the succession and the timing of it made people worried,” Mohib said.Mohib rejected reports that pro-government forces were defecting to the insurgents. “They may have abandoned their posts because they ran out of ammunition, they ran out of supplies. But by no means has anyone defected to the Taliban.”Despite widespread insurgent territorial advances, the Afghan adviser appeared confident his government still enjoyed the public’s support, suggesting the battlefield setbacks were temporary.”It’s a war and there is pressure. Sometimes things work in our way and sometimes they don’t.”Fleeing To TajikistanMohib said Afghan soldiers who had crossed into Tajikistan in recent days after coming under insurgent attacks “are being brought back” and would be rejoining the national security forces.Authorities in the neighboring Central Asian state have confirmed that in the past two weeks, about 1,600 soldiers from Afghanistan’s embattled Badakhshan province have taken refuge in Tajikistan to escape Taliban advances.Tajikistan Bolsters Border as Afghan Troops, Fleeing Taliban, Seek Refuge 20,000 military reservists were mobilized to bolster the border with Afghanistan after more than 1,000 Afghan security personnel fled across the frontier in response to Taliban militant advancesThe development prompted Tajik President Emomali Rahmon on Monday to order the mobilization of 20,000 military reservists to bolster the border with Afghanistan.Mountainous Badakhshan also borders China and Pakistan. The Taliban claimed Tuesday that their fighters took control of Wakhan district next to the Chinese border, reportedly bringing almost all of the province’s 28 districts under insurgent control.In February 2020, the United States, under then-President Donald Trump, signed a peace deal with the Taliban that set the stage for the foreign troop withdrawal from Afghanistan. But the U.S.-brokered peace talks between the insurgent group and the Afghan government, which started last September, have since stalled.Mohib insisted Tuesday that Kabul was ready to find a negotiated settlement to the conflict with the Taliban in line with the wishes of Afghans and the international community, but the insurgents were refusing to do.When asked for his reaction as to who is responsible for stalling the talks, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told VOA that his group “is ready and determined to move the peace process forward but the other side is not willing to do so.”Washington says it will continue to provide economic and financial assistance for Afghan security forces. The Biden administration said Sunday that its embassy in Kabul would remain open. Officials say a contingent of U.S. troops will be left behind to protect the diplomatic mission.Fears of refugee crisis The worsening security situation in the wake of rapid Taliban advances has Afghanistan’s neighbors worried about a fresh wave of refugees coming their way from the turmoil.Officials in Pakistan, which still hosts nearly 3 million Afghan refugees fleeing four decades of hostilities in their country, said they had tightened border security and might not open it to new refugees.”But, if the situation deteriorates, we will establish settlements along the border with strict control and monitoring, prohibiting the entry of refugees into the mainland,” local media Tuesday quoted Pakistani Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed as saying.  
 
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Afghanistan’s national security chief said Tuesday that “teething problems” stemming from the withdrawal of U.S.-led foreign troops were behind recent rapid Taliban territorial gains and his government was working to overcome them. 
 
U.S. President Joe Biden has ordered all American soldiers to leave the war-torn South Asian nation by September 11 to end nearly 20 years of unprecedented U.S. military engagement there. NATO partners have followed suit. 
 
The military drawdown, largely complete and expected to be finished by late August, began on May 1. Since then, nearly a third of Afghanistan’s more than 400 districts have fallen to Taliban insurgents as pro-government forces, deprived of crucial U.S. air support, either retreated or surrendered altogether. 
 
“We had some glitches as a result of the retrograde and the additional pressure on the Afghan air force. … These were some kind of teeth(ing) problems that we are overcoming,” Hamdullah Mohib, the Afghan national security advisor, told reporters in Kabul. 
 
The advisor explained a lack of resources, particularly those related to the Afghan air force, made it hard for authorities to sustain much-needed supplies to remote security bases after foreign troops began pulling out of the country. 
 
“Those areas came under pressure and the way it [the drawdown] happened, the succession and the timing of it made people worried,” Mohib insisted. 
 Bagram Airfield 
 
On Friday, the United States announced, to the surprise of many, that it had overnight vacated its largest military base in Afghanistan, fueling uncertainty and chaos among war-weary Afghans. A member of the Afghan security forces walks in the sprawling Bagram air base after the American military departed, in Parwan province north of Kabul, Afghanistan, July 5, 2021. 
The sprawling Bagram Airfield, located about 60 kilometers north of Kabul, served as the epicenter of the U.S. war on terrorism in the country and played a crucial role in direct operations against the Taliban. 
 
U.S. troops allegedly left Bagram by cutting off the electricity and slipping away in the night without notifying the base’s new Afghan commander, who discovered the American military’s departure more than two hours after they left. 
 
The U.S. military, however, insisted the transfer of the base along with other such facilities in the country had been carried out in close coordination with the Afghans. 
 
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Mohib rejected reports that pro-government forces were defecting to the insurgents. “They may have abandoned their posts because they ran out of ammunition, they ran out of supplies. But by no means has anyone defected to the Taliban.” 
 
Despite widespread insurgent territorial advances, the Afghan advisor appeared confident his government still enjoyed the public’s support, suggesting the battlefield setbacks were temporary. 
 
“It’s a war and there is pressure. Sometimes things work in our way and sometimes they don’t.” 
 Fleeing to Tajikistan 
 
Mohib said Afghan soldiers who crossed into Tajikistan in recent days after coming under insurgent attacks “are being brought back” and they would be rejoining the national security forces. 
 
Authorities in the neighboring Central Asian state have confirmed that in the last two weeks around 1,600 soldiers from Afghanistan’s embattled Badakhshan province have taken refuge in Tajikistan to escape Taliban advances. 
 
The development prompted Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon on Monday to order the mobilization of 20,000 military reservists to bolster the border with Afghanistan. 
 
Mountainous Badakhshan also borders China and Pakistan. The Taliban claimed Tuesday its fighters took control of Wakhan district next to the Chinese border, reportedly bringing almost all of the province’s 28 districts under insurgent control. 
 
In February 2020, the United States, under then-President Donald Trump, signed a peace deal with the Taliban that set the stage for the foreign troop withdrawal from Afghanistan. But the U.S.-brokered peace talks between the insurgent group and the Afghan government, which started last September, have since stalled. 
 
Mohib insisted Tuesday that Kabul was ready to find a negotiated settlement to the conflict with the Taliban in line with the wishes of Afghans and the international community, but the insurgents were refusing to do. 
 
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told VOA when asked for his reaction as to who is responsible for stalling the talks said that his group “is ready and determined to move the peace process froward but the other side is not willing to do so.” 
 
Washington says it will continue to provide economic and financial assistance for Afghan security forces. The Biden administration said Sunday that its embassy in Kabul will remain open. Officials say a contingent of U.S. troops will be left behind to protect the diplomatic mission. 
 Fears of refugee crisis 
 
The worsening security situation in the wake of rapid Taliban advances has worried Afghanistan’s neighbors about a fresh wave of refugees coming their way from the turmoil. 
 
Officials in Pakistan, which still hosts nearly 3 million Afghan refugees fleeing four decades of hostilities in their country, said they have tightened border security and might not open it to new refugees. 
 
“But, if the situation deteriorates, we will establish settlements along the border with strict control and monitoring, prohibiting the entry of refugees into the mainland,” local media Tuesday quoted Pakistani Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid as saying.
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Amid persistent tensions between India and China, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he called Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama to wish him happy birthday.   
 
“Spoke on phone to His Holiness the @DalaiLama to convey greetings on his 86th birthday. We wish him a long and healthy life,” Modi said on Twitter. 
The Dalai Lama has been living in exile in India since 1959, when he escaped from Tibet following a failed uprising against Chinese rule. He has denied Beijing’s accusation that he is seeking Tibet’s separation from the mainland, calling instead for greater autonomy for Tibet and protection for the region’s Buddhist culture.   
 
Indian leaders and officials have in the past hesitated to make public any interaction with the Dalai Lama to avoid upsetting Beijing.
 
But ties between India and China have plummeted since a military standoff between the two countries along their disputed Himalayan border in Ladakh.    
 
Although the standoff has eased, both countries still deploy tens of thousands of troops in the Himalayan mountains at several points where they have unsettled borders.   
 
Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar has said that ties between the country cannot be normalized until China pulls back its troops. 
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North India’s Kullu district is famed for its ancient tradition of spinning hand-woven stoles and shawls with designs that have been passed down for generations. Now artisans, many of them women, are learning to make another traditional Indian garment called the sari, under a program sponsored by the local government and private sector that aims to reach new markets and enhance income opportunities for women. Anjana Pasricha reports.
Camera: Rakesh Kumar      Video editor: Rod James
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The Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama celebrated turning 86 on Tuesday, thanking his supporters and expressing his appreciation for India, where he has lived since he fled his homeland in 1959.  “I want to express my deep appreciation of all my friends who have really shown me love, respect and trust,” the Dalai Lama said in a video message.  He reiterated his mission to serving humanity and urged supporters to be compassionate.  “Since I became a refugee and now settled in India, I have taken full advantage of India’s freedom and religious harmony,” he said.  He added that he had great respect for India’s secular values such as “honesty, karuna (compassion), and ahimsa (non-violence).”  The Dalai Lama made the hillside town of Dharmsala his headquarters after a failed uprising against Chinese rule in 1959. China doesn’t recognize the Tibetan government-in-exile and accuses the Dalai Lama of seeking to separate Tibet from China.  The Dalai Lama denies being a separatist and says he merely advocates for substantial autonomy and protection of Tibet’s native Buddhist culture. On Tuesday, a small celebration attended by mostly government officials was held at the Central Tibetan Administration. On a projected screen, the Dalai Lama’s video message was played and followed by a cultural performance by the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts.  Usually, the spiritual leader’s birthday is a fairly elaborate affair in the town, open to members of the public who would flock to the Tsuglakhang Temple where performances were held. Sometimes, the leader would also make an appearance.  This year, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the celebrations were muted and behind closed doors. But a banner marking his birthday hung in the town square and Tibetan monks distributed sweets and juice to passers-by outside the closed temple.  “Many people really show they love me. And many people actually love my smile,” the Dalai Lama said with a smile at the start of the video. “In spite of my old age, my face is quite handsome,” he said with a laugh.  
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The U.S. left Afghanistan’s Bagram Airfield after nearly 20 years by shutting off the electricity and leaving in the night, Afghan military officials said, without notifying the base’s new Afghan commander, who discovered the Americans’ departure more than two hours after they left.  Afghanistan’s army showed off the sprawling air base Monday, providing a glimpse of what had been the epicenter of America’s war to unseat the Taliban and hunt down the al-Qaida perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks on America.  The U.S. announced Friday it had vacated its biggest airfield in the country in advance of a final withdrawal the Pentagon says will be completed by the end of August. Gen. Mir Asadullah Kohistani, the new commander of Bagram Airfield, speaks during an interview with the Associated Press, after the American military departed, July 5, 2021.”We (heard) some rumor that the Americans had left Bagram … and finally by seven o’clock in the morning, we understood that it was confirmed that they had already left Bagram,” said Gen. Mir Asadullah Kohistani, Bagram’s new commander. U.S. military spokesman Col. Sonny Leggett did not address the specific complaints of many Afghan soldiers who inherited the abandoned airfield. He said in the statement that the U.S. coordinated its departures with Afghanistan’s leaders and referred to a statement last week. That statement said the handover had been in the process soon after President Joe Biden’s mid-April announcement that America was withdrawing the last of its forces.  Before the Afghan army could take control of the airfield about an hour’s drive from the Afghan capital of Kabul, it was invaded by a small army of looters, who ransacked barrack after barrack and rummaged through giant storage tents before being evicted, according to Afghan military officials. “At first we thought maybe they were Taliban,” said Abdul Raouf, a soldier of 10 years.  An Afghan security forces member keeps watch as he sits in an army vehicle in Bagram U.S. air base, after American troops vacated it, in Parwan province, Afghanistan, July 5, 2021.Kohistani insisted the Afghan National Security and Defense Force could hold on to the heavily fortified base despite a string of Taliban wins on the battlefield. The airfield also includes a prison with about 5,000 prisoners, many of them allegedly Taliban. The Taliban’s latest surge comes as the last U.S. and NATO forces pull out of the country. As of last week, most NATO soldiers had quietly left. The last U.S. soldiers are likely to remain until an agreement to protect the Kabul Hamid Karzai International Airport, in which Turkey is expected to take the lead, is completed.  Taliban advancesMeanwhile, in northern Afghanistan, district after district has fallen to the Taliban. In the last two days hundreds of Afghan soldiers fled across the border into Tajikistan rather than fight the insurgents. “In battle it is sometimes one step forward and some steps back,” Kohistani said.  Kohistani said the Afghan military is changing its strategy to focus on the strategic districts. He insisted they would retake them in the coming days without saying how that would be accomplished. Part of the sprawling Bagram air base is seen after the American military departed, in Parwan province north of Kabul, Afghanistan, July 5, 2021.On Monday Kohistani opened Bagram, a massive facility that had been exclusively used by the U.S. and NATO. It is the size of a small city, with roadways weaving through barracks and past hangarlike buildings. There are two runways and more than 100 parking spots for fighter jets known as revetments because of the blast walls that protect each aircraft. One of the two runways is 3,660 meters (12,000 feet) long and was built in 2006. There’s a passenger lounge, a 50-bed hospital and giant hangar-size tents filled with supplies such as furniture. What the US left behindKohistani said the U.S. left behind 3.5 million items, all itemized by the departing U.S. military. They include tens of thousands of bottles of water, energy drinks and military ready made meals, known as MRE’s.  “When you say 3.5 million items, it is every small items, like every phone, every door knob, every window in every barracks, every door in every barracks,” he said. The big ticket items left behind include thousands of civilian vehicles, many of them without keys to start them, and hundreds of armored vehicles. Kohistani said the U.S. also left behind small weapons and the ammunition for them, but the departing troops took heavy weapons with them. Ammunition for weapons not being left behind for the Afghan military was blown up before they left. Afghan security forces stand guard after the American military left Bagram air base, in Parwan province north of Kabul, Afghanistan, July 5, 2021.Afghan soldiers who wandered Monday throughout the base that had once seen as many as 100,000 U.S. troops were deeply critical of how the U.S. left Bagram, leaving in the night without telling the Afghan soldiers tasked with patrolling the perimeter. “In one night, they lost all the goodwill of 20 years by leaving the way they did, in the night, without telling the Afghan soldiers who were outside patrolling the area,” said Afghan soldier Naematullah, who asked that only his one name be used. Within 20 minutes of the U.S. departure Friday, the electricity was shut down and the base was plunged into darkness, said Raouf, the soldier, who has also served in Taliban strongholds of Helmand and Kandahar provinces. The sudden darkness was like a signal to looters, he said. They entered from the north smashing through the first barrier, ransacking buildings, loading anything that was not nailed down into trucks. On Monday, three days after the U.S. departure, Afghan soldiers were still collecting piles of garbage that included empty water bottles, cans and empty energy drinks left behind by the looters. Kohistani meanwhile said the nearly 20 years of U.S. and NATO involvement in Afghanistan was appreciated but now it was time for Afghans to step up. “We have to solve our problem. We have to secure our country and once again build our country with our own hands,” he said.  
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Tajikistan’s president on Monday ordered the mobilization of 20,000 military reservists to bolster the border with Afghanistan after more than 1,000 Afghan security personnel fled across the frontier in response to Taliban militant advances. The crossings on Sunday underscored the rapidly deteriorating situation in Afghanistan, where foreign troops near a complete withdrawal after 20 years of war and with peace negotiations stalled. Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon made a flurry of international calls to discuss the situation with allies in the region, including Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, whose country has a big military presence in Tajikistan. FILE – Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with his Tajikistan’s counterpart Emomali Rakhmon, right, at the Kremlin, Moscow.Putin assured Rakhmon that Moscow would support the former Soviet republic to stabilize its border with Afghanistan if needed, both directly and through a regional security bloc, the Kremlin said in a statement. Russia operates its largest military base abroad in the impoverished Central Asian country, where it stations tanks, helicopters and ground attack aircraft. Tajikistan is looking into setting up camps for potential refugees from Afghanistan, government sources told Reuters earlier Monday. Hundreds of Afghan security force members have fled swift Taliban advances in the north. Sunday’s retreats were the largest confirmed, coming just two days after the United States officially vacated its main Bagram air base in Afghanistan as part of a plan to withdraw all foreign troops by September 11. An Afghan security forces member keeps watch as he sits in an army vehicle in Bagram U.S. air base, after American troops vacated it, in Parwan province, Afghanistan, July 5, 2021.The Taliban took over six key districts in the northern province of Badakhshan, which borders both Tajikistan and China, following which 1,037 Afghan servicemen fled across the border with Tajikistan’s permission, its border guard service said. On Sunday, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani spoke to Rakhmon by phone to discuss the developments. “Special attention was paid to the escalation of the situation in Afghanistan’s northern areas adjacent to Tajikistan,” the Tajik president’s office said in a statement. It added that Rakhmon expressed concern about “forced crossings” by members of the Afghan security forces. Rakhmon also called fellow Central Asian leaders Shavkat Mirziyoyev of Uzbekistan and Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan and held a security council meeting, his office said. ‘Nowhere to go’ A senior Afghan official confirmed there had been hundreds of crossings into Tajikistan but did not know the exact number. “The Taliban cut off all the roads, and these people had nowhere to go but to cross the border,” he told Reuters. The Taliban have ceased attacks on Western forces but continue to target Afghan government and security installations as they make rapid territorial gains across the country. FILE – Armed men who are against Taliban uprising stand at their check post, at the Ghorband District, Parwan province, Afghanistan, June 29, 2021.Peace talks between the two sides remain inconclusive. Zabeehullah Atiq, a parliamentarian from Badakhshan, told Reuters that the Taliban had captured 26 of the border province’s 28 districts, three of which were handed over to the insurgents without a fight. Afghan security force members used various routes to flee, he said, but added that the Taliban captured dozens of personnel in Ishkashem district, where Tajik border forces had blocked any crossing. Tajik officials said they let in 152 people from Ishkashem, but did not comment on whether anyone was denied entry. Afghan National Security Adviser Hamdullah Mohib, in Moscow on Monday for security talks, said government forces had not anticipated the Taliban offensive but would counterattack. Moscow said the Russian consulate in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif was suspending operations over security concerns, Tass news agency reported. 
 
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Myanmar’s ousted de facto civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi returned to a courtroom in the capital Naypyidaw Monday for a new round of hearings on corruption-related charges brought against her by the military junta that overthrew her government earlier this year.Suu Kyi’s legal team told reporters the court heard testimony from two witnesses on the charge that she violated the country’s Natural Disaster Management Law by breaking COVID-19 restrictions while campaigning during last year’s parliamentary election.In the second hearing, which involved the case against Suu Kyi for violating the Communications Law, attorneys on both sides sparred over testimony offered by one of the three witnesses who were called to appear. The third and final hearing of the day involved the case against Suu Kyi under the Export-Import Law. Six unregistered and illegally imported walkie-talkie radios were allegedly found in a search of her home in the capital of Naypyitaw, according to police document.Before the hearings involving Suu Kyi, a hearing was held on charges brought against ousted President U Win Myint for violating the Disaster Management Law.FILE – A screen grab from Myawaddy TV video shows deposed Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi (center-left) and President Win Myint (center) appear before a special court in Naypyitaw, May 24, 2021.Lawyers have told reporters they expect the current trial to last until the end of July.Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace laureate, has been detained since February 1, when her civilian government was overthrown nearly three months after her National League for Democracy party scored a landslide victory in the elections.The junta has cited widespread electoral fraud in the November 8 election as a reason for the coup, an allegation the civilian electoral commission denied. The junta has threatened to dissolve the NLD over the allegations.The coup triggered a crisis in the Southeast Asian country that led to deadly anti-junta demonstrations and clashes between several armed ethnic groups and the ruling junta.In a campaign to quell the protests, the government has killed more than 800 protesters and bystanders since the takeover, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a rights group tracking casualties and arrests in Myanmar.VOA’s Burmese Service contributed to this report.
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As President Joe Biden continues to pursue the withdrawal of nearly all U.S. forces from Afghanistan after almost 20 years, the U.S. commander in the country and others say they are worried about Taliban advances. Michelle Quinn reports.Video editor: Mary Cieslak
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Pakistan said Sunday it had “concrete evidence and intelligence” linking rival India to a car bombing that killed three people and injured 22 others last month in the eastern city of Lahore.  
 
National Security Adviser Moeed Yusuf said a high-profile investigation has identified the “main mastermind and the handlers” of the June 23 “terrorist” attack. He spoke in Islamabad at a news conference, where he was joined by other senior officials.
 
“We have absolutely no doubt or reservation in informing you that the main mastermind belongs to RAW, the Indian intelligence agency, is an Indian national and is based in India,” Yusuf said.  
 
Without naming the suspect, the adviser said the man lives in India and works for that country’s spy agency.  
 
Indian authorities have not responded to Pakistan’s allegations.
 
The police chief of Punjab province, of which Lahore is the capital, said 12 suspects linked to the bombing have been arrested.  
 
Inam Ghani told reporters the suspects included an Afghan who lived in Pakistan as a refugee and drove the explosives-laden car to the site of the blast before detonating it with a remote-controlled device.  
 
Yusuf said investigators had also collected evidence of “thousands of attempts of cyberattacks” by Indian operatives against Pakistan’s “critical investigative infrastructure” right after the Lahore attack.
 
“These attacks, and the number, and in the sophistication in some cases, leaves no doubt of state sponsorship and state linkage in this case,” he said.  
 
Yusuf added the cyberattacks were being conducted to buy time to deflect attention and to avoid “the apprehending and capture of these terrorists that we managed to do.”
 
The adviser said Islamabad will share the evidence with relevant global watchdogs in its bid to expose India’s sponsorship of terrorist attacks against Pakistan.
 
The Lahore blast took place not far from the residence of anti-India militant leader Hafiz Saeed, whom the United States has designated as a global terrorist in connection with the 2008 coordinated attacks in Mumbai that killed nearly 170 people, including several U.S. citizens.  
 
Washington has a $10 million bounty on Saeed’s head. The cleric has been convicted by a Pakistani anti-terrorism court in connection with terror funding charges in three different cases and is serving about 15 years prison sentence. Authorities have declared Saeed’s residence a de facto prison and kept him there, citing security reasons.
 
New Delhi says Saeed masterminded the Mumbai carnage, charges the cleric rejects.
 
Pakistan and India routinely accuse the other of plotting terrorism on their respective territories. The nuclear-armed South Asian rival nations have fought three wars, two of them over the disputed Kashmir region, the main source of bilateral tension. Both claim Kashmir in its entirety. 
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The U.S. embassy in Afghanistan Sunday told the host nation the United States had “no plans to close” the diplomatic mission as stepped up Taliban attacks fuel nationwide security concerns while U.S.-led foreign troops near a complete withdrawal from the country. 
 
The U.S. assurance comes in response to reports suggesting Washington is preparing emergency evacuation plans for the diplomatic staff in Kabul.  
 
The embassy in the Afghan capital “is open and will remain open,” the mission wrote on Twitter. It pledged to maintain a “robust diplomatic presence” in the country as directed by President Joe Biden “to carry out the range of work we do with the government and people of #Afghanistan.” (1/4) The U.S. Embassy in Kabul is open & will remain open. As directed by President Biden, we will continue to have a robust diplomatic presence in Kabul to carry out the range of work we do with the government and people of #Afghanistan. We have no plans to close the Embassy.— U.S. Embassy Kabul (@USEmbassyKabul) July 4, 2021 
The statement noted that the embassy was aware of the security challenges of operating in the country and “constantly planning for contingencies & how to mitigate risks to our people and programs.”  
 
It said the embassy would adjust “our presence as necessary” to address the challenges and was confident it could work in a “safe manner to the benefit” of Afghanistan and the bilateral relationship. 
 
“As President Biden and Secretary (of State Antony) Blinken have said, while the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan is ending, the U.S. embassy will continue our diplomatic, humanitarian, and security assistance programs in Afghanistan. Taliban Capture at Least a Dozen Districts as Afghan Fighting RagesMore than 300 Afghan border troops escaped the fighting in Badakhshan by fleeing into neighboring TajikistanThe Afghan uncertainty and chaos have intensified since Friday, when U.S. officials announced all coalition troops vacated the main Bagram Air Base, about 60 kilometers north of Kabul, after handing its control to local forces.  The America commander in Afghanistan, who is directing the withdrawal process, says Taliban advances and attempts to regain control of the country are worrisome.  
 
“You look at the security situation and it’s not good.” he said. “The Taliban is on the move,” Gen. Austin Scott Miller, told ABC’s “This Week” show broadcast Sunday. He said the Taliban is “gaining strength” and that “we should be concerned.”  Miller also said, “The loss of terrain is concerning.” 
 
The Taliban have rapidly extended control to about a quarter of Afghanistan’s roughly 419 districts since U.S. and NATO allies formally began withdrawing their last remaining troops from the country two months ago.  
 
U.S. officials said last week the retrograde process has largely been completed and the rest of the process is expected to be finished by August, slightly earlier than the original deadline of September 11 set by Biden.  
 
The Taliban have captured nearly 20 districts in recent days, with pro-government security forces either retreating to other areas or surrendering to the Taliban in most of the cases. More than a dozen of them are located in the northeastern border provinces of Badakhshan and Takhar.  
 
On Saturday, more than 300 Afghan government forces fled the fighting in Badakhshan and took refuge in the neighboring central Asian state of Tajikistan.  
 
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani spoke Sunday to Tajik President Emomali Sharipovich Rahmonov. A presidential spokesman in Kabul said Ghani thanked the Tajik leader for allowing the Afghan soldiers to take shelter on humanitarian grounds. 
 
Insurgent advances in Badakhshan have brought the Taliban close to the gates to the provincial capital, Fayzabad. The development prompted the Afghan government to send in reinforcements to protect the city.  Hundreds of commando forces have stationed in Faiz Abad, Badakhshan provincial center today. They protect the lives and properties of Badakshan’s residents and will not allow the Taliban terrorists to harm people. pic.twitter.com/sEV6bDhjbM— Fawad Aman (@FawadAman2) July 4, 2021 The Taliban have also made significant battlefield advances in southern Helmand and Kandahar provinces, next to the border with Pakistan. 
 
Afghan officials said national security forces have killed “hundreds” of Taliban fighters in recent days, stressing the need to retake districts that have fallen to the Taliban.  
 
Local media Sunday quoted the commander of Afghan special forces as saying, “Strong belts have been created for the protection of major cities, highways and border towns” across the country. 
 
Maj. Gen. Hibatullah Alizai blamed “political, regional and social issues” for the evacuation of dozens of districts by Afghan forces in recent days. He did not elaborate. 
 
“Our main goal is to inflict as many casualties as possible on the enemy…. (and) to protect major cities, highways and key border towns that are important for our major cities and the country,” the private TOLO news channel quoted Alizai as saying.   
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As the last U.S. forces are withdrawn from Afghanistan after nearly 20 years of fighting, the American commander says he is worried about the territorial advance of Taliban insurgents attempting to take back control of the country. U.S. Army Gen. Scott Miller, in an interview broadcast Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” show, said the Taliban is “gaining strength.” “We should be concerned,” he said. “The loss of terrain is concerning.” For the Afghans trying to maintain control, he said, “Hope matters. Morale matters.” “I don’t like leaving friends in need,” Miller said as he oversaw the last U.S. troops leaving the mammoth Bagram Airfield this past week. “You look at the security situation and it’s not good.” he said. “The Taliban is on the move.” Afghans carry the body of civilians killed during fighting between the Taliban and Security forces, during their funeral, in Badakhshan province, northern Afghanistan, July 4, 2021.The Taliban have captured more 100 districts since early May. U.S. President Joe Biden ordered the U.S. troop withdrawal, a position also favored by former President Donald Trump before he left office in January. In April, Biden announced, “It is time to end the forever war” in Afghanistan, saying that the United States had accomplished its stated goal of denying terrorists a haven in the country. The U.S. invaded Afghanistan in 2001 to combat al-Qaida terrorists who had been training there in advance of their September 11 attacks on New York and the Pentagon outside Washington that killed nearly 3,000 people. Miller said there were “judgments” that had to be made about the withdrawal. He said there were U.S. victories in the Afghan fighting, even as 2,300 U.S. troops were killed over two decades. But he also said, “The amount of self-reflection [about the U.S. military performance in Afghanistan] will be important.” 
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Taliban insurgents have continued to make rapid territorial gains in Afghanistan as the United States said its last remaining troops are expected to withdraw from the conflict-torn country by the end of August.Multiple Afghan sources said Saturday the Taliban had pressured pro-government forces to retreat from at least a dozen districts in northeastern Badakhshan and Takhar border provinces in the past 24 hours. Pro-government forces in many areas are said to be surrendering and abandoning territory without offering any resistance to the Taliban.More than 300 Afghan border troops escaped the fighting in Badakhshan by fleeing into neighboring Tajikistan, according to the official media of the neighboring Central Asian state.The Afghan personnel were allowed to enter the Tajik territory “in line with the principles of humanity and good neighborliness,” the report added. Last week, intense clashes with Taliban fighters also prompted scores of Afghan soldiers to flee into Tajikistan.The latest Taliban advances reportedly have brought the insurgents to the gates of Faizabad, the capital of Badakhshan. A video circulating on Afghan social media Saturday night showed panicked provincial officials boarding a plane along with their families and fleeing the city. VOA could not immediately confirm authenticity of the footage.The Taliban is on the verge taking Faizabad town of Afghanistan’s Badaghshan province. This afternoon, senior local officials took this flight and escaped to Kabul. Tonight, Faizabad could become the first provincial capital falling to the Taliban. pic.twitter.com/9H9rB5y8gU— Ezzatullah Mehrdad (@EzzatMehrdad) July 3, 2021A spokesperson for the Afghan defense ministry, Fawad Aman, said Saturday that national security forces attacked a Taliban-held district near Faizabad and evicted the insurgents. The Taliban suffered heavy casualties, Aman wrote on Twitter.Fierce fighting was also raging in southern Helmand and Kandahar provinces, where the Taliban claimed their fighters had taken control of several districts.Over the past 24 hours, more than 300 Taliban fighters were killed in counter-insurgency operations across at least nine provinces, Aman said. But he did not discuss Taliban territorial advances.#Breaking: Baharak district of Badakhshan was liberated from the control of terrorists again. The Taliban suffered heavy casualties in the operations of the defense and security forces and the people uprising forces and they fled the district.— Fawad Aman (@FawadAman2) July 3, 2021Each of the Afghan warring sides routinely issues inflated battlefield gains and casualty tolls for its opponent, and the details are difficult to confirm from independent sources.Afghan Interior Minister General Abdul Sattar Mirzakwal, referring to the fall of districts to the insurgents, told local TOLOnews Saturday “that war management issues are the main reason behind the ongoing situation.”Mirzakwal vowed major Afghan city centers “will never collapse” to the Taliban and “provinces are our red line.” He said the insurgents were seeking to take control of key supply routes, but Afghan security forces were determined to “thwart such attempts.”U.S. officials are actively updating evacuation plans for the U.S. embassy in Kabul, CNN reported Saturday night, given the Taliban offenses and changing U.S. military presence.Critics say the absence of crucial U.S. air support is behind battlefield setbacks Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) have suffered since the foreign troop pullout began on May 1.Jonathan Schroden, a military operations analyst at the U.S.-based Center for Naval Analyses, explained the reasons that could be behind the rapid insurgent gains, particularly in northern Afghanistan.Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
download this video to view it offline.Download File360p | 10 MB480p | 14 MB540p | 17 MB720p | 33 MB1080p | 68 MBOriginal | 232 MB Embed” />Copy Download Audio“I suspect the Taliban’s push in the north is a result of both the (relatively) lighter ANDSF presence in those areas and the Taliban’s desire to preempt potential lines of support to (traditionally anti-Taliban) northern warlords and their militias,” Schroden told VOA.“As for why the ANDSF are retreating, it’s because the government is doing nothing to support them in the field — be it logistics, air support or leadership, Kabul is failing its fielded forces and the latter are voting with their feet,” Schroden said.On Friday, Washington announced that all U.S. and NATO troops had vacated Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan, where the foreign coalition directed operations against the Taliban and their al-Qaida allies for almost two decades.The announcement has fueled uncertainty and concerns the country might slide into a new round of civil war, as in the 1990s after the former Soviet Union withdrew its occupation troops.The United States and its allies invaded Afghanistan in October 2001 just days after deadly terror strikes on America that officials said were plotted by al-Qaida leaders out of their sanctuaries in Afghanistan under the Taliban rule at the time.The international military action ousted the Taliban from power for sheltering al-Qaida. But the Islamist group quickly organized an insurgency and currently controls or hotly contests more than half of Afghanistan’s more than 400 districts.The Taliban have captured more 100 districts since early May.
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U.S. forces have left Bagram airfield, the main American base in Afghanistan, and handed control over to Afghan National Security Forces. But as VOA Pentagon correspondent Carla Babb reports, that does not mean the American troop withdrawal is complete.
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Afghanistan’s national security adviser, Hamdullah Mohib, Friday met his Russian counterpart, Nikolai Patrushev, in Moscow to discuss security cooperation between the two countries. 
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U.S President Joe Biden said Friday that the U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan would not be completed in the next few days, even as U.S. forces have left Bagram Airfield, the main American base in Afghanistan, transferring its control to the Afghan National Security Forces.For nearly two decades the base, 60 kilometers north of Kabul, served as the center of the U.S. fight to remove Taliban forces from power and take down al-Qaida terrorists responsible for killing thousands of Americans on September 11, 2001.“No,” Biden said Friday when asked by White House reporters if the withdrawal completion was days away.“We’re on track exactly as we expect it to be. I wanted to make sure there was enough ‘running room’ that we wouldn’t be able to do it all till September,” he added, referencing the September 11 deadline he gave for the withdrawal’s completion.An Afghan National Army soldier stands guard at a checkpoint near Bagram airfield, on the day the last of the American troops vacated it, Parwan province, Afghanistan July 2, 2021.Earlier on Friday, a U.S. defense official confirmed to VOA that all U.S. and international coalition forces had left Bagram and that the base had been turned over to the ANSF.Additional U.S. announcements on Afghanistan were not expected over the weekend, according to the U.S. defense official, who spoke to VOA on condition of anonymity.  Other media reports had suggested the withdrawal from Afghanistan could be completed by the U.S. Independence Day on Sunday.The Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman also confirmed the withdrawal of all foreign troops from Bagram.”All coalition and American troops have departed Bagram Air Base last night. The base was handed over to the ANDSF,” tweeted Fawad Aman. He said the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces would “protect and use the base to combat terrorism.”All Coalition and American troops have departed Bagram Air Base last night. The base was handed over to the ANDSF. ANDSF will protect base and use it to combat terrorism.— Fawad Aman (@FawadAman2) FILE – Gen. Scott Miller, commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan shakes hands with Afghan National Army soldiers during a visit at a checkpoint in Nerkh district of Wardak province in west Kabul, June 6, 2019.Miller told reporters in Kabul on Tuesday that the security situation was “not good right now” and cautioned the Taliban against attempting to take control of the country by force.“A military takeover is not in the interest of anyone, certainly not for the people of Afghanistan,” said Miller.Since May 1, when the withdrawal began, the Taliban have doubled the number of districts they control, according to the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Long War Journal. The Taliban have grabbed hold of more than 80 districts in the last two months, for a total of 157 Taliban-controlled districts.Rapid movement expectedBradley Bowman, a defense expert with FDD and an Afghanistan veteran, said he expected the Taliban gains to “really pick up steam” once the withdrawal was complete.“I fear and believe that we’re going to be back in Afghanistan in a few years, if not months,” said Bowman. “Clearly President [Joe] Biden made a political decision, that he’s entitled to as commander in chief, that was conditions-ignoring and ignored the advice of his commanders on the ground.”FILE – Army Gen. Joseph Votel, then the commander of U.S. Central Command, briefs reporters at the Pentagon, April 29, 2016.Retired General Joseph Votel, former head of U.S. Central Command, told VOA last month that the “forever war” narrative in the U.S. played heavily in the political dialogue surrounding the withdrawal decision, which he called disappointing.“We still have forces in Japan. We still have forces in Korea decades and decades after the conflict has ended,” he said. “And the reason we have them is because it demonstrates our resolve, it demonstrates our desire to support our interests, and it demonstrates our strong support for our partners on the ground.”“I don’t think we’re in a situation where this is an immediate collapse type of scenario, but the Afghan forces are going to need support,” added Votel.The United States has vowed to continue financially aiding the Afghan military, along with providing “over the horizon” advising and aircraft maintenance support. NATO has said it will continue training Afghan forces in a location outside Afghanistan.No airstrikesBut the United States does not plan to support Afghan forces with airstrikes after the U.S. troop withdrawal is complete, General Frank McKenzie, the head of U.S. Central Command, told VOA in an interview two weeks ago. He added that counterterrorism strikes in Afghanistan would be limited to instances when attack plans have been discovered to strike the U.S. homeland or the homelands of our allies.“That would be the reason for any strikes that we do in Afghanistan after we leave. [It] would have to be that we’ve uncovered someone who wants to attack the homeland of the United States, one of our allies and partners,” said McKenzie.VOA Exclusive: CENTCOM Head Says US Will Not Support Afghan Forces with Airstrikes After Troop WithdrawalThe general’s comments appear to refute a report by the New York Times Asked Tuesday whether the United States was reconsidering its post-withdrawal strategy to include defensive strikes against the Taliban, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby declined to “hypothesize” but stressed “the violence remains too high.””What we’d like to see is the Taliban returned to the peace process in a credible way. And as we see the events on the ground unfolding, it certainly calls into question the sincerity of their efforts to be a legitimate, credible participant in the peace process,” he told Pentagon reporters.The Associated Press reported last week that roughly 650 U.S. troops were expected to remain in Afghanistan to provide security for diplomats after the withdrawal and that several hundred additional American forces would remain at the Kabul airport, potentially until September, to assist Turkish troops providing security.The officials were not authorized to discuss details of the withdrawal and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.“Afghanistan is not going to be treated like any other nation where we have a Marine security guard. I mean, it’s Afghanistan, and we understand the dynamic nature of the security threat there,” Kirby said Tuesday, declining to confirm specific numbers.Ayaz Gul contributed to this report.
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The United States delivered a batch of 2.5 million doses of the Moderna coronavirus vaccine to Pakistan Friday as part of the 80 million doses Washington is donating to countries around the world.
 
The U.S. embassy in Islamabad explained in a statement that the vaccine doses are being delivered in partnership with the United Nations-backed COVAX global initiative, UNICEF and the Pakistani government.
 
“These vaccines will save lives and help Pakistan emerge from this crisis, which has devastated so many families and communities in both our countries,” said Embassy Chargé d’affaires Angela Aggeler. “A vaccinated public will also help bring back the economic and social interactions we all welcome.”
 Today the United States delivered 2.5 million doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to Pakistan, underscoring our cooperation on the pandemic and our enduring friendship. We are committed to beating the pandemic globally by vaccinating as many people as possible. pic.twitter.com/DTjX7eyr3L— Department of State (@StateDept) July 2, 2021
 
The embassy noted that Washington already has delivered nearly $50 million in COVID assistance “through our partnership” with Islamabad.
 The United States’ delivery of 2.5M doses of the Moderna vaccine to Pakistan highlights our enduring friendship and cooperation on COVID-19. We are committed to bringing this pandemic to an end around the world. pic.twitter.com/adqb60D7DQ— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) July 2, 2021
 
The United States has pledged $4 billion to support COVAX with the purchase and delivery of coronavirus vaccines to 92 low- and middle-income countries.
 
“This contribution is supporting equitable access to vaccines for the world’s most vulnerable and at-risk populations, including frontline health care workers,” said the U.S. statement.
 
It noted Pakistan received 1.2 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine as part of the COVAX effort.
 
Friday’s U.S. vaccine shipment arrived as Pakistan’s national inoculation campaign, which largely relies on Chinese vaccines, faces critical shortages of Western-developed anti-coronavirus shots.
 
The supply crisis prompted hundreds of expatriate workers to rally outside a mass vaccination center in Islamabad this week, demanding mandatory European or U.S. vaccinations, such as AstraZenca or Pfizer, so they can resume working abroad.
 
The angry protesters also stormed the facility and inflicted damage before authorities temporarily shut it down.
 
The coronavirus situation in Pakistan remains largely under control, infecting at least 960,000 people and killing more than 22,000 of them since the outbreak in early 2020.
 
Authorities reported Friday they had documented nearly 1,300 new infections and 24 deaths in the last 24 hours, marking a consistent decline in nationwide cases.
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As the last U.S. combat troops prepare to leave Afghanistan, the question arises: When is the war really over? For Afghans the answer is clear but grim: no time soon. An emboldened Taliban insurgency is making battlefield gains, and prospective peace talks are stalled. Some fear that once foreign forces are gone, Afghanistan will dive deeper into civil war. Though degraded, an Afghan affiliate of the Islamic State extremist network also lurks. For the United States and its coalition partners, the endgame is murky. Although all combat troops and 20 years of accumulated war materiel will soon be gone, the head of U.S Central Command, Gen. Frank McKenzie, will have authority until September to defend Afghan forces against the Taliban. He can do so by ordering strikes with U.S. warplanes based outside of Afghanistan, according to defense officials who discussed details of military planning on condition of anonymity. U.S. officials said Friday that the U.S. military has left Bagram Airfield after nearly 20 years. The facility was the epicenter of the war, but its transfer to the Afghan government did not mark the U.S. military’s final withdrawal from the country. Two officials say the airfield was handed over in its entirety. They spoke on condition they not be identified because they were not authorized to disclose the handover to the media.  A look at the end of the war: What’s left of the combat mission? Technically, U.S. forces haven’t been engaged in ground combat in Afghanistan since 2014. But counterterrorism troops have been pursuing and hitting extremists since then, including with Afghanistan-based aircraft. Those strike aircraft are now gone and those strikes, along with any logistical support for Afghan forces, will be done from outside the country. Inside Afghanistan, U.S. troops will no longer be there to train or advise Afghan forces. An unusually large U.S. security contingent of 650 troops, based at the U.S. Embassy compound, will protect American diplomats and potentially help secure the Kabul international airport. Turkey is expected to continue its current mission of providing airport security, but McKenzie will have authority to keep as many as 300 more troops to assist that mission until September.  It’s also possible that the U.S. military may be asked to assist any large-scale evacuation of Afghans seeking Special Immigrant Visas, although the State Department-led effort may not require a military airlift. The White House is concerned that Afghans who helped the U.S. war effort, and are thereby vulnerable to Taliban retribution, not be left behind. When he decided in April to bring the U.S. war to a close, President Joe Biden gave the Pentagon until Sept. 11 to complete the withdrawal. The Army general in charge in Kabul, Scott Miller, has essentially finished it already, with nearly all military equipment gone and few troops left. Miller remained in the country Friday but is expected to depart in coming days. But will his departure constitute the end of the U.S. war? With as many as 950 U.S. troops in the country until September and the potential for continued airstrikes, the answer is probably not. How wars end Unlike Afghanistan, some wars end with a flourish. World War I was over with the armistice signed with Germany on Nov. 11, 1918 — a day now celebrated as a federal holiday in the U.S. — and the later signing of the Treaty of Versailles. World War II saw dual celebrations in 1945 with Germany’s surrender marking Victory in Europe (V-E Day) and Japan’s surrender a few months later as Victory Over Japan (V-J Day) following the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In Korea, an armistice signed in July 1953 ended the fighting, although technically the war was only suspended because no peace treaty was ever signed. Other endings have been less clear-cut. The U.S. pulled troops out of Vietnam in 1973, in what many consider a failed war that ended with the fall of Saigon two years later. And when convoys of U.S. troops drove out of Iraq in 2011, a ceremony marked their final departure. But just three years later, American troops were back to rebuild Iraqi forces that collapsed under attacks by Islamic State militants. Victory or defeat?As America’s war in Afghanistan draws to a close, there will be no surrender and no peace treaty, no final victory and no decisive defeat. Biden says it was enough that U.S. forces dismantled al-Qaida and killed Osama bin Laden, the group’s leader considered the mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Lately, violence in Afghanistan has escalated. Taliban attacks on Afghan forces and civilians have intensified and the group has taken control of more than 100 district centers. Pentagon leaders have said there is “medium” risk that the Afghan government and its security forces collapse within the next two years, if not sooner. U.S. leaders insist the only path to peace in Afghanistan is through a negotiated settlement. The Trump administration signed a deal with the Taliban in February 2020 that said the U.S. would withdraw its troops by May 2021 in exchange for Taliban promises, including that it keep Afghanistan from again being a staging arena for attacks on America. U.S. officials say the Taliban are not fully adhering to their part of the bargain, even as the U.S. continues its withdrawal. NATO missionThe NATO Resolute Support mission to train, advise and assist the Afghan security forces began in 2015, when the U.S.-led combat mission was declared over. At that point the Afghans assumed full responsibility for their security, yet they remained dependent on billions of dollars a year in U.S. aid.  At the peak of the war, there were more than 130,000 troops in Afghanistan from 50 NATO nations and partner countries. That dwindled to about 10,000 troops from 36 nations for the Resolute Support mission, and as of this week most had withdrawn their troops. Some may see the war ending when NATO’s mission is declared over. But that may not happen for months. According to officials, Turkey is negotiating a new bilateral agreement with Afghan leaders in order to remain at the airport to provide security. Until that agreement is completed, the legal authorities for Turkish troops staying in Afghanistan are under the auspices of the Resolute Support mission. Counterterror missionThe U.S. troop withdrawal doesn’t mean the end of the war on terrorism. The U.S. has made it clear that it retains the authority to conduct strikes against al-Qaida or other terrorist groups in Afghanistan if they threaten the U.S. homeland. Because the U.S. has pulled its fighter and surveillance aircraft out of the country, it must now rely on manned and unmanned flights from ships at sea and air bases in the Gulf region, such as al-Dhafra air base in the United Arab Emirates. The Pentagon is looking for basing alternatives for surveillance aircraft and other assets in countries closer to Afghanistan. As yet, no agreements have been reached.
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After nearly 20 years, the U.S. military left Bagram Airfield, the epicenter of its war to oust the Taliban and hunt down the al Qaida perpetrators of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on America, two U.S. officials said Friday.The airfield was handed over to the Afghan National Security and Defense Force in its entirety, they said on condition they not be identified because they were not authorized to release it to the media.One of the officials also said the U.S. top commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Austin S Miller, “still retains all the capabilities and authorities to protect the forces.”The withdrawal is the clearest indication that the last of the 2,500-3,500 U.S. troops have left Afghanistan or are nearing a departure, months ahead of President Joe Biden’s promise that they would be gone by Sept. 11.It was clear soon after the mid-April announcement that the U.S. was ending its “forever war” that the departure of U.S. soldiers and their estimated 7,000 NATO allies would be nearer to July 4, when America celebrates its Independence Day.Most NATO soldiers have already quietly exited as of this week.The U.S. has refused to say when the last U.S. soldier would leave Afghanistan, citing security concerns, but also the protection of Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport is still being negotiated. Turkish and U.S. soldiers currently are protecting the airport. That protection is currently covered under the Resolute Support Mission, which is the military mission currently closing.Until a new agreement for the airport’s protection is negotiated between Turkey and the Afghan government, and possibly the United States, the Resolute Support mission would appear to continue.The U.S. will also have about 6,500 troops in Afghanistan to protect its sprawling embassy in the capital.At its peak, Bagram Airfield saw more than 100,000 U.S. troops pass through its sprawling compound barely an hour’s drive north of the Afghan capital Kabul. 
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Senior Pakistani military and intelligence officials told members of Parliament during a closed, eight-hour briefing Thursday that they are losing influence over the Taliban and building up border defenses for fear of increased violence in neighboring Afghanistan once the U.S. withdrawal is complete.Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed, director general of Inter-Services Intelligence, gave the briefing, with army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa on hand to answer questions.FILE – Pakistan’s Army Chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa gestures during his talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Islamabad, Pakistan, in Islamabad, April 7, 2021.They told the parliamentary committee that Pakistan was trying to persuade the Taliban to negotiate a settlement to the conflict, but the country’s influence is waning, according to a statement from Pakistan’s Information Ministry and VOA sources inside the meeting.They also said Pakistan has fenced 90% of its border with Afghanistan to shield it from an increase in violence once U.S. and NATO forces are gone.Pakistan is expecting millions of Afghan refugees to arrive at its border if violence in Afghanistan increases or the situation deteriorates into a civil war. The country already hosts nearly 3 million refugees, some of whom have been living here since the 1980s when the then-Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan.Subsequent decades of conflict, in particular the civil war of the 1990s post-Soviet withdrawal, sent millions seeking shelter into nearby Iran and Pakistan.Kashmir included in briefingWhile relations with neighbor India, in particular the dispute over Himalayan region Kashmir, were also on the agenda of Thursday’s briefing, most of the time was spent discussing Afghanistan.The private briefing was requested by senior opposition leaders who wanted the country’s national security establishment to lay out for the Parliament the country’s policies on the regional situation.Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi told local channel ARY that Thursday’s discussion on Afghanistan was “frank and comprehensive” and the other issues were to be discussed in a future briefing.FILE – Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan speaks during a news conference at the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, Nov. 19, 2020.A day earlier, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan told Parliament the country could be a “partner in peace” with the United States but not partners in the conflict, and reiterated his stance that his government would not provide the U.S. bases for counterterrorism strikes in Afghanistan.In his statement announcing the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan, President Joe Biden said his administration would “reorganize our counterterrorism capabilities and the substantial assets in the region to prevent reemergence of terrorist — of the threat to our homeland from over the horizon.”Since then, U.S. diplomats have been in conversation with several countries in the region, including Pakistan, for help with counterterrorism needs, including providing bases or facilities that could host drones or other aircraft to be used for counterterrorism strikes.U.S. offers warningThe U.S. intelligence community has warned that after the withdrawal of forces from Afghanistan, scheduled to be complete by September 11, 2021, counterterrorism would become difficult.”The U.S. government’s ability to collect and act on threats will diminish. That’s simply a fact,” CIA Director Bill Burns told lawmakers in April.However, he also acknowledged that the ability of terrorist groups in the region, like local affiliates of al-Qaida or Islamic State, lacked the capacity to attack the U.S.
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The simmering war in Afghanistan, if official accounts are to be accepted, has killed more people last month than in any other month since 2001, when the United States and NATO troops invaded the country.Battlefield violence between pro-Afghan government forces and the Taliban insurgency have particularly surged since May 1, when the last of the U.S.-led international forces formally began exiting the conflict-torn nation under orders from President Joe Biden.The Taliban have overrun dozens of districts across Afghanistan, including several more during Thursday’s fighting, as foreign troops leave the country. Local Afghan officials and residents say pro-government forces in many areas are surrendering and abandoning territory without offering any resistance to the Taliban.Afghan security forces, backed by air power, have retaken some of the lost territory and say they have inflicted heavy casualties on the Taliban.A spokesman for the Defense Ministry said Thursday in a statement that airstrikes had killed nearly 260 insurgent fighters in the past 24 hours.Each of the Afghan warring sides routinely issues inflated casualty tolls for its opponent, and the numbers are difficult to confirm from independent sources.On Tuesday, General Ajmal Omar Shinwari, the spokesman for the Afghan security sector, said while briefing reporters about the battlefield activities that hundreds of counteroffensives had killed more than 6,000 insurgents and injured several thousand others in June alone.The Afghan mainstream TOLOnews said Thursday that Taliban attacks killed close to 700 people, mostly security forces, and wounded at least 1,000 others in June.Times reportThe New York Times, which keeps track of monthly casualties for government forces, reported the deaths of more than 700 security personnel and 200 civilians in insurgent attacks in June.FILE – Afghan National Army soldiers stand guard at a checkpoint near the Bagram Airbase north of Kabul, Afghanistan, April 2, 2020. Battlefield violence between pro-Afghan government forces and the Taliban insurgency has surged since May 1, 2021.Shinwari and other government officials have declined to say how many districts the Taliban have captured in recent weeks. The TOLOnews said in its report that government forces had retreated from at least 120 districts in the face of the latest insurgent onslaught.The U.N. Security Council was informed more than a week ago that at least 50 of Afghanistan’s 419 districts had fallen to the Taliban since early May.On Thursday, Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova told a news conference in Moscow that “over the last 10 days [Taliban] fighters have gained control over 30 districts.” She said Afghan security forces were struggling to deter the insurgent advances.This came as U.S. military officials insisted Thursday that they would not abandon the Afghan military, even as the last of the U.S. combat forces prepared to the leave the country.”I had an excellent call,” U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin tweeted after speaking with Afghan Minister of Defense Bismillah Khan Mohammadi, adding the two discussed the Pentagon’s “investment in the security & stability of Afghanistan.”According to a readout of the call, Austin also “reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to the Afghan National Defense & Security Forces (ANDSF) as the withdrawal continues.”Fear of takeoverThe Taliban are said to have encircled many Afghan cities and have captured key areas around the capital, Kabul.The growing Taliban threat has fueled concerns that the insurgents intend to regain control in Afghanistan by force once all foreign forces leave the country by the September 11 deadline set by Biden.U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price reiterated Thursday that any attempt to install a new government in Kabul by force would not be acceptable to the international community.“Legitimacy and assistance for any Afghan government can only be possible if that government has the consent of the Afghan people, and critically, I would say, has fundamental respect for human rights,” Price told reporters in Washington.U.S. commanders have warned that the security situation is deteriorating in Afghanistan in the face of rapid Taliban advances, but they say it is not affecting the military drawdown.“A civil war is certainly a path that can be visualized if this continues on the trajectory it’s on right now. That should be of concern to the world,” General Austin Miller, the U.S. commander of international forces in Afghanistan, told reporters this week.Miller is overseeing the U.S. military drawdown, which some reports suggest will largely be completed by early July. But the general refused to comment on when U.S. troops would be out of the country.German soldiers line up for the final roll call in front of a German armed forces Bundeswehr Airbus A400M cargo plane after returning from Afghanistan at the airfield in Wunstorf, Germany, June 30, 2021.Some exits completeGermany, Poland and Italy have completed their troop pullouts, while other NATO allies are expected to wind up their military missions soon.Afghans are increasingly criticizing the rapid withdrawal of foreign forces, fearing the return of the Islamist Taliban to power would undermine their freedom and rights.U.S. officials are reported as saying a small unit of 650 troops will stay on to guard the American Embassy in Kabul.The foreign troop withdrawal is a product of the February 2020 agreement Washington signed with the Taliban in exchange for counterterrorism guarantees and assurances the insurgent group would negotiate a political settlement to the war with the Afghan government.But the dialogue, which started in Qatar last September, has stalled for months without making progress. Each Afghan rival blames the other for the deadlock.Ross Wilson, acting U.S. ambassador in Kabul, on Wednesday criticized the Taliban for stepping up their violent campaign and urged warring parties to ease violence and negotiate a political end to the war.Wilson noted in his statement that in the past 12 years the war had killed more than 38,000 Afghan civilians and injured at least 70,000 others.VOA’s Jeff Seldin contributed to this report.
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Religious minorities in Pakistan claim the country’s long-delayed census, released by the government in May, appears to have undercounted them.Although the sixth Population and Housing Census was completed in 2017, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics published the data on May 19. The previous census had been conducted in 1998.The 2017 census began under former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who hailed from Punjab, Pakistan’s most prosperous province. However, its results were delayed after the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Baluchistan, and Sindh provinces complained that that their populations were undercounted.On April 12, the Council of Common Interests (CCI), a constitutional body that resolves power-sharing disputes between the federal government and the provinces, met under Prime Minister Imran Khan and approved release of the most recent data.While the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Baluchistan governments, both allies of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government, dropped their objections, Sindh, under the Pakistan Peoples Party, insisted the CCI decision would lead to unfair distribution of federal resources.Muslims girls display their hands painted with traditional henna to celebrate Eid al-Fitr holidays, marking on the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, in Peshawar, Pakistan.Growing Muslim majorityPakistan’s 1998 census recorded 132.3 million people, while its newly released 2017 data show the population has grown to 207.68 million — excluding Pakistan-administered Kashmir.The data showed that Muslims grew to 96.47% of the population, while religious minorities shrank or grew only minimally. Hindus accounted for 1.73% of the population; Christians, 1.27%; Ahmadiyya, 0.09%; scheduled caste, 0.41%; and others, 0.02%.Peter Jacob, director of the Center for Social Justice in Lahore, told VOA that the number of Christians decreased 0.32% from the last census and now total about 2.5 million.”Even though Christians have migrated overseas and converted to Islam, our church records make us suspect that Christians may have been undercounted by at least half a million,” he said.”We’re struggling to find accurate data, and somehow the government is not helping. It is not investigating,” he said.Government responsePakistan Central Secretary for Information Ahmad Jawad told VOA that the Sharif government began the 2017 census and the PTI government followed it up.According to Jawad, the federal government’s ethnic-based political partner in Sindh, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, had been the most vocal in its opposition to the census results. He said that any group objecting to the results should seek recourse in parliament.”The parliament is the best forum to present these concerns. Let’s deliberate whether we need to hold a census again, when we need to hold it, so that next time we don’t have objections.”Admitting that the system had flaws, Jawad said Pakistan needed to rely on its National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) and improve data collection to address objections in the future.”We are also willing to consider the objections raised by religious minorities for the next census,” he added.The PTI government plans to begin the next census in October. However, the Sindh government and its Hindu religious minority support calling a joint session of Parliament to record their objections.Members of a civil society group hold a demonstration demanding the government allow the construction of a Hindu temple, in Islamabad, Pakistan, July 8, 2020UndercountingReligious minorities say that despite emigration and forced conversions to Islam, the recent census count of their populations was lower than expected.Neel Keshav, a Supreme Court lawyer from Karachi, said the 1998 census data showed a Hindu population of nearly near 2 million. Yet the new census showed it had grown only to 3.5 million in 20 years.Keshav estimates higher numbers, given that Hindus live in rural areas and have generally high fertility rates.He suspects that migrations do not explain the low population growth and that undercounting may have occurred — as Jacob suspected concerning the Christian population.He quoted an estimate by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan: that only 8,000 people emigrated to India over the past six years.According to media reports, hundreds of Pakistani Hindus took up a 2019 offer by India’s nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party government to grant them visas and a path to Indian citizenship. However, many of them have since returned to Sindh, where they have lived for generations.In this photo released by the Press Information Department, the Pakistani Prime Minister addresses the Parliament in Islamabad, Pakistan, June 25, 2020.Favored communitiesReligious minorities claim that prior governments also tended to undercount them because it allowed Islamabad to draw smaller constituencies and apportion fewer seats in the assemblies and the Senate.Currently, religious minorities may contest only 33 reserved seats in the assemblies and four seats in the Senate.”We have created reserved seats for religious minorities to enable any minority legislator elected across the country to raise their rights in Parliament,” Jawad told VOA.But Hindu community lawyer Keshav said, “Reserved seats give political parties the power to select candidates who are mere tokens and do not represent the grassroots community.”Jacob noted that while Islamic fundamentalist parties gained visibility, “no Christians were inducted into the federal Cabinet.”The minorities say the government’s award of seats to non-Muslims — such as to a member of the tiny polytheistic Kalash community and to a Sikh senator — are merely meant to boost Pakistan’s image as a diverse and tourism-friendly country.FILE – Ahmadi refugees from Pakistan eat at the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Center in Pasyala, Sri Lanka, April 26, 2019.Ahmadi communitySome Ahmadi community leaders say that the census may have undercounted them since many hide their religious identity.The Ahmadis were declared non-Muslims by Pakistan in 1974 and forbidden from publicly practicing Islam.”Ahmadis are banned from declaring or propagating their faith publicly, building mosques, or making the Muslim call for prayer,” says Human Rights Watch.Qamar Suleman, a leader of the Ahmadi Jamaat in Punjab, told VOA: “We cannot keep a copy of the holy Quran. We cannot translate or print it. All the books written by our founder (Mirza Ghulam Ahmad) are banned as ‘hate material,’ and six members of our group are in prison for trying to teach the Quran.”Suleman said that restricted freedoms and continued religious discrimination have driven Ahmadis to migrate to Germany, Canada and the United Kingdom.Suleman called for “fundamental change” to address the minorities’ concerns, adding, “The citizens of Pakistan should not be judged on religion — and the ‘majority minority’ point of view must be ended.”
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As part of a cyberespionage operation targeting Central Asian countries, Chinese hackers recently sought to breach the computer networks of Afghanistan’s National Security Council, researchers at cybersecurity firm Check Point reported.The alleged attack by the Chinese-speaking hacking group known to cybersecurity experts as IndigoZebra is the latest in an operation that goes back as far as 2014 and has targeted political entities in neighboring Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, the researchers wrote in a FILE – An iPhone displays a Facebook page, Aug. 11, 2019. Facebook said March 24, 2021, that hackers in China had used fake accounts and impostor websites in a bid to break into the phones of Uyghur Muslims.This is the first major Chinese cyberespionage operation in Afghanistan to come to light, coming just weeks after An icon for the Pulse Secure smartphone app, right, and a computer desktop info page are seen in Burke, Va., June 14, 2021. Suspected Chinese hackers penetrated U.S. entities’ computers in what cybersecurity experts called a major espionage campaign.China conducts large-scale cyberespionage operations around the world, cybersecurity experts say. In its latest threat assessment to Congress, the U.S. intelligence community wrote in April that China “presents a prolific and effective cyberespionage threat, possesses substantial cyber-attack capabilities, and presents a growing influence threat.”The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment.Check Point researchers said they investigated the cyberattack in Afghanistan after stumbling upon a suspicious email on a website that detects malware in email communications. The email had been apparently posted by one of its recipients on the Afghan National Security Council, according to Alexandra Gofman, the lead investigator on the Check Point team that probed the operation.Khalid Mafton of VOA’s Afghan Service contributed to this report.
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Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday denounced as “idiocy” his country’s past policy of becoming a “front-line state” in the U.S.-led war against terrorism in Afghanistan, blaming the policy for the persistent security and economic challenges facing Islamabad.“We can be, and will always remain, partners in peace with America. We can never be partners in conflict anymore,” Khan told Parliament in a statement.Khan again ruled out the possibility of providing Pakistani bases to the U.S. military for counterterrorism strikes in Afghanistan following the planned withdrawal of U.S. troops from the neighboring country after nearly two decades.The prime minister recounted that Pakistan’s decision to join the U.S. war triggered a militant backlash in his country in which 70,000 Pakistanis were killed in suicide bombings and other terror attacks, and losses of around $150 billion were inflicted on the fragile national economy.Instead of appreciating the sacrifices, Khan lamented, Washington called Islamabad a “hypocrite” and questioned Pakistan’s integrity.Pakistan’s historically roller-coaster relations with the U.S. have remained under scrutiny since U.S.-led foreign forces invaded Afghanistan almost 20 years ago.The punitive military action ousted the Islamist Taliban from power in Kabul for harboring al-Qaida leaders, whom Washington says planned the September 11, 2001, terror attacks on U.S. cities that killed around 3,000 people.FILE – A Pakistani army soldier stands guard on a border terminal in Ghulam Khan, a town in North Waziristan, on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan, Jan. 27, 2019.Support for Taliban allegedWashington has consistently complained that despite receiving billions of dollars in U.S. assistance to facilitate the military mission in Afghanistan, the Pakistani spy agency covertly supported and provided sanctuary to the Taliban.The support is believed to have enabled the Taliban to organize a deadly insurgency against coalition forces in Afghanistan and regain control over swaths of Afghan territory, effectively stalemating the war. Pakistan consistently denied providing military or any other support for the Taliban.U.S. drones also routinely struck suspected militant targets on the Pakistani side of the long, porous Afghan border, attacks that allegedly had the tacit approval of the then-government in Islamabad.Washington has lately praised Pakistan for facilitating its peace talks with the Taliban. The dialogue culminated in the February 2020 landmark deal that paved the way for all U.S. and coalition troops to leave Afghanistan and close the longest war in American history.The military drawdown formally began on May 1 and is expected to largely conclude in the coming weeks, well ahead of the September 11 deadline set by U.S. President Joe Biden.In exchange, the Taliban halted attacks on international forces and began peace talks with representatives of the U.S.-backed Afghan government. But the negotiations, being hosted by Qatar, have since stalled, with Afghan adversaries blaming each other for the deadlock.FILE – U.S. troops patrol at an Afghan National Army base in Logar province, Afghanistan, Aug. 7, 2018.Speaking Wednesday, Khan criticized Biden’s unexpectedly fast-paced troop withdrawal and its request that Pakistan use its leverage to push the Taliban to the negotiating table to find a political settlement to the war.The prime minister said Islamabad had been urging the Taliban to desist from a military takeover of Afghanistan and cautioning them that such a move would only prolong the civil war and cause more devastation.Pressure on families?Khan explained the only leverage his country could use with the Taliban is that their families reside in Pakistan.“Should their families be arrested and imprisoned? What else [does the U.S.] expect … Pakistan to do?” he asked.Khan also suggested Pakistan lost that leverage once the U.S. announced the date of its withdrawal from Afghanistan.Analysts, and even members of the U.S. Congress, have also been critical of Biden’s troop-exit decision, saying it has emboldened the Taliban to intensify their battlefield attacks and bring more Afghan territory under their control within the past two months.Pakistani Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid also told a local television network earlier this week that families of the Afghan Taliban live in the suburbs of Islamabad, the national capital. He added that “sometimes, dead bodies of the Taliban arrive in Pakistan, while wounded insurgents also are brought for treatment in local hospitals.”FILE – CIA Director William Burns listens during a Senate Select Committee on Intelligence hearing about worldwide threats, on Capitol Hill in Washington, April 14, 2021.CIA Director William J. Burns visited Islamabad unannounced in April to discuss possible cooperation with Pakistani counterparts on how to mitigate the terrorism threat from Afghanistan if the country plunges into another civil war after the U.S. troop withdrawal.When asked last week by the U.S. news website Axios if Pakistan would provide military bases for Washington to conduct strikes inside Afghanistan, Khan said, “Absolutely not.”There was no immediate U.S. response to Khan’s declaration.Pakistani supply and communication lines have played a crucial role in sustaining and sending supplies to international forces in landlocked Afghanistan for the past two decades.The two countries share a nearly 2,600-kilometer open border. Pakistani officials say a massive unilateral construction effort has largely fenced off the frontier in recent years, effectively deterring militant infiltration in either direction.
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