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AFP
Kabul
Afghans should not misconstrue America’s sudden and contentious withdrawal from parts of Syria as a precursor to a similar move in Afghanistan, US Defence Secretary Mark Esper said on Monday.
The US last week announced the withdrawal of 1,000 troops from northeast Syria, days after Turkey launched an offensive against the previously US-backed Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), which Ankara considers a terrorist group.
The move was seen as a betrayal of the same Kurdish fighters the US had been training and arming for years to fight Islamic State in Syria.
Speaking at NATO’s Resolute Support mission headquarters in Kabul, Esper said America maintains a “longstanding commitment” to Afghanistan, which it invaded in 2001 to oust the Taliban, and noted US policy direction for the country is completely different.
“All these things should reassure our Afghan allies and others that they should not misinterpret our actions in the recent week or so with regard to Syria and contrast that with Afghanistan,” he said.
Underscoring America’s will to stay in Afghanistan, Esper said, was that it still faces a “virulent terrorist threat that originated in the form of Al Qaeda and now finds itself in the Taliban and ISIS-K and other groups”.
Kabul
Afghans should not misconstrue America’s sudden and contentious withdrawal from parts of Syria as a precursor to a similar move in Afghanistan, US Defence Secretary Mark Esper said on Monday.
The US last week announced the withdrawal of 1,000 troops from northeast Syria, days after Turkey launched an offensive against the previously US-backed Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), which Ankara considers a terrorist group.
The move was seen as a betrayal of the same Kurdish fighters the US had been training and arming for years to fight Islamic State in Syria.
Speaking at NATO’s Resolute Support mission headquarters in Kabul, Esper said America maintains a “longstanding commitment” to Afghanistan, which it invaded in 2001 to oust the Taliban, and noted US policy direction for the country is completely different.
“All these things should reassure our Afghan allies and others that they should not misinterpret our actions in the recent week or so with regard to Syria and contrast that with Afghanistan,” he said.
Underscoring America’s will to stay in Afghanistan, Esper said, was that it still faces a “virulent terrorist threat that originated in the form of Al Qaeda and now finds itself in the Taliban and ISIS-K and other groups”.
