Alghadeer TV Alghadeer TV
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says the withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan means the United States has recognized the failure of its two-decades-long mission in the country.
“The United States is not merely withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan, it is doing that having actually recognized the failure of its twenty-year-long mission,” Lavrov said during a lecture at the Far Eastern Federal University on Thursday.
Stressing that terrorist and drug threats have dramatically increased since the United States and its allies invaded Afghanistan in 2001, the top Russian diplomat said and added, “Notably, there are documents in the West indicating to the probability that US servicemen were involved in drug trafficking.”
Lavrov raised the alarm about looming threats posed by the Daesh terrorist group in the war-ravaged country and said the terrorist outfit was “deliberately pulling its forces in Afghanistan’s northern provinces bordering our allies.”
The US military contingent is expected to leave Afghanistan by September 11.
Last week, the American forces abandoned Bagram air base, the longtime staging ground for US military operations in the country, effectively ending Washington’s longest war.
Russia: Taliban assured Moscow it would respect human rights
Later on Thursday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said the Taliban’s delegation, which arrived in Moscow earlier the same day, has given assurances that it would respect human rights, including those of women “within the framework of Islamic norms and Afghan traditions.”
The ministry added that the Taliban have also assured Moscow that the group would not violate the borders of Central Asian states.
They also guaranteed, the Russian ministry noted, to maintain the security of foreign diplomatic and consular missions in Afghanistan.
The Russian Foreign Ministry statement added that the Taliban told Moscow the group wanted peace in Afghanistan through negotiations, and that it was committed to countering the threat posed to the war-torn country by the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group, while doing its best to stamp out heroine production.
UK troops withdrawn amid fears of intensified militancy in Afghanistan
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on Thursday that most British troops had been pulled out of Afghanistan.
“All British troops assigned to NATO’s mission in Afghanistan are now returning home,” Johnson said in a statement to parliament.
“For obvious reasons, I will not disclose the timetable of our departure, though I can tell the house (parliament) that most of our personnel have already left.”
