US hands over key military base in Kabul to Afghan forces

KABUL, Afghanistan

The top NATO Commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Scott Miller, on Friday oversaw handing over of a key military base in the capital Kabul to the Afghan forces as the US continued with the withdrawal amid surging violence in the country.

“The ‘New Kabul Compound’ was submitted from US to MoD [Ministry of Defense] in a ceremony… General Miller, emphasized the international community's commitment to continue financial and security force assistance to Afghan forces,” tweeted the Afghan Defense Ministry.

As per the US Central Command, since President Joe Biden's decision, the Pentagon has retrograded the equivalent of approximately 160 C-17 loads of material out of Afghanistan and have turned over more than 10,000 pieces of equipment to the Defense Logistics Agency for disposition. Also, the US had by last week officially handed over five facilities to the Afghan Ministry of Defense with which it has completed up to 25% of the entire retrograde process.

President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, while delivering a speech titled “Opportunity to Change the Game” at the Kabul University on Thursday, said that the security agreements with the US and NATO remain in force and only the form of cooperation and support will change in the new chapter of relations after the withdrawal.

He urged neighboring Pakistan to take fundamental steps to break the climate of mistrust and seize the opportunity for peace to befriend with the Afghan people.

“Afghanistan does not want to be a proxy battlefield, we will choose a policy of neutrality for friendship and non-interference in the conflicts of others…terrorism would not be eradicated without a clear cultural plan. The military force is needed to fight terrorism, but it must be accompanied by spiritual and cultural power,” he said.

Deadly violence resurged in Afghanistan following a three-day truce for the Muslim holy festival of Eid al-Fitr earlier this month as the US aims to withdraw all troops from the country by Sept. 11 this year.

The Defense Ministry Thursday said at least 152 Taliban insurgents were killed and 55 others wounded in different operations in Laghman, Ghazni, Logar, Maidan Wardak, Zabul, Kandahar, Herat, Balkh, Jawzjan, Samangan, Helmand, Baghlan and Konduz provinces during the 24 the past hours.