Afghan President Hamid Karzai and NATO-led forces have reached an agreement on the departure of foreign troops from a strategically key province near the capital, coalition forces said, but it was unclear if US special forces would leave.
An Afghan Ministry of Defense spokesman told reporters in Kabul that the elite US force would quit Wardak Province within a few days, despite earlier US concerns that their departure would leave a security vacuum.
The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan in a statement said that Afghan security forces would take over security from coalition forces in Wardak, but did specifically mention the withdrawal of US special forces.
The expulsion of US special forces has raised fears that Taliban and Hezb-i-Islami militants might use Wardak, just a 40-minute drive away from Kabul, as a launch pad for attacks on the capital.
Karzai first ordered their expulsion last month after villagers accused them of torturing and killing civilians, which the US denied.
Despite the deadline for their departure expiring more than a week ago, special forces tasked with fighting the Taliban are still operating there, US and Afghan officials say.
Their continued deployment has angered Karzai, who has become increasingly critical of his Western allies operating in the country ahead of the departure of most foreign troops by the end of next year.
ISAF said the arrival of the Afghan security forces would “preclude the need for ALP [Afghan Local Police] and Coalition forces” in Wardak’s Nerkh District, a known hiding place of the Taliban.
“This plan meets the president’s intent and leverages the growing capacity and capability of the Afghan security forces to meet the security needs of this country,” ISAF Commander Joseph Dunford said.
A Zurich city councilor has apologized and reportedly sought police protection against threats after she fired a sport pistol at an auction poster of a 14th-century Madonna and child painting, and posted images of their bullet-ridden faces on social media. Green-Liberal party official Sanija Ameti, 32, put the images on Instagram over the weekend before quickly pulling them down. She later wrote on social media that she had been practicing shots from about 10m and only found the poster as “big enough” for a suitable target. “I apologize to the people who were hurt by my post. I deleted it immediately when I
The governor of Ohio is to send law enforcement and millions of dollars in healthcare resources to the city of Springfield as it faces a surge in temporary Haitian migrants. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine on Tuesday said that he does not oppose the Temporary Protected Status program under which about 15,000 Haitians have arrived in the city of about 59,000 people since 2020, but said the federal government must do more to help affected communities. On Monday, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost directed his office to research legal avenues — including filing a lawsuit — to stop the federal government from sending
At first, Francis Ari Sture thought a human was trying to shove him down the steep Norwegian mountainside. Then he saw the golden eagle land. “We are staring at each other for, maybe, a whole minute,” Sture said on Monday. “I’m trying to think what’s in its mind.” The bird then attacked Sture five more times on Thursday last week, scratching and clawing the 31-year-old bicycle courier’s face and arms over 10 to 15 minutes as he sprinted down the mountain. The same eagle is believed to be responsible for attacks on three other people across a vast mountainous area of southern Norway
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is to visit Russia next month for a summit of the BRICS bloc of developing economies, Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) said on Thursday, a move that comes as Moscow and Beijing seek to counter the West’s global influence. Xi’s visit to Russia would be his second since the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. China claims to take a neutral position in the conflict, but it has backed the Kremlin’s contentions that Russia’s action was provoked by the West, and it continues to supply key components needed by Moscow for