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(REUTERS): US President Joe Biden met Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and his former political foe, Abdullah Abdullah, to discuss Washington’s support for Afghanistan as US troops withdraw after 20 years of war.
Biden, seated beside Ghani and Abdullah in the Oval Office, called them “two old friends” and said US support for Afghanistan was not ending but would be sustained despite the US pullout. “Our troops may be leaving, but support for Afghanistan is not ending,” Biden said.
“Afghans are going to have to decide their future, what they want,” said Biden, saying the senseless violence has to stop. “We’re going to stick with you, and we’re going to do our best to see to it you have the tools you need,” he added.
Meanwhile, Ghani said Afghan security forces had retaken six districts on Friday. He said he respected Biden’s decision and that the partnership between the United States and Afghanistan is entering a new phase. “We are determined to have unity, coherence,” he added.
Talking to journalists after the meeting, Ghani said the United States’ decision to withdraw troops was a sovereign one and it was Kabul’s job to “manage consequences.”
He added that Biden had clearly articulated that the US embassy would continue to operate and security aid would continue and in some cases move on an accelerated schedule.
The meeting could be as valuable to Ghani for its symbolism as for any new US help because it will be seen as affirming Biden’s support for the beleaguered Afghan leader as he confronts Taliban gains, bombings and assassinations, a surge in Covid cases and political infighting in Kabul.
Biden’s embrace, however, comes only months after US officials were pressuring Ghani to step aside for a transitional government under a draft political accord that they floated in a failed gambit to break a stalemate in peace talks.
Biden has asked Congress to approve $3.3 billion in security assistance for Afghanistan next year and is sending 3 million doses of vaccines there to help it battle Covid-19.
US officials have been clear that Biden will not halt the American pullout – likely to be completed in the coming weeks -and he is unlikely to approve any US military support to Kabul to halt the Taliban’s advances beyond advice, intelligence, and aircraft maintenance.
The Ghani-Abdullah visit comes with the peace process stalled and violence raging as Afghan security forces fight to stem a Taliban spring offensive that threatens several provincial capitals and has triggered mobilisations of ethnic militias to reinforce government troops.
