Afghanistan || Commander Of The US And NATO Troops Relinquishes Command

The US commander-in-chief leaves Afghanistan and the central command in Florida takes over. All US forces should be withdrawn by the end of August.

The commander of the US and NATO troops in Afghanistan, General Austin Scott Miller, relinquished his command in the course of the international troop withdrawal. At a ceremony in Kabul, Miller, who had commanded coalition forces in Afghanistan since September 2018, handed over his duties to General Kenneth Frank McKenzie, the head of the US Central Command (Centcom).

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Centcom's headquarters are in Florida. The US state coordinates US military activities in 20 countries in the Middle East as well as in Central and South Asia. From here, too, decisions should be taken on possible air strikes in defense of the Afghan government's troops, at least until the US withdrawal is complete. That should be the case by August 31st at the latest.

The handover of command took place in the heavily secured headquarters of the NATO mission in Kabul, at a time when the Taliban were rapidly gaining territories throughout Afghanistan. US President Joe Biden defended his decision to withdraw troops quickly from Afghanistan on Thursday. The United States has achieved its anti-terrorist objectives in the Hindu Kush since the September 11, 2001 attacks, he said.

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The armed forces of the Afghan government, on the other hand, appear to have largely given up the fight against the Taliban, although they are resisting the Islamists in some parts of the country. In the past few weeks the Taliban have captured several strategically important districts, particularly on the borders with Iran , Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. The Taliban control more than a third of the 421 districts and district centers. However, their claim that they have 85 percent of the counties under their control is considered an exaggeration.

Following the US announcement, NATO also officially decided to withdraw its troops completely from Afghanistan. On May 1, 2021, the plan is to begin withdrawing all NATO troops in Afghanistan within a few months.

In February 2020, the USA and representatives of the Taliban signed a peace agreement for Afghanistan . It is intended to initiate a gradual withdrawal of US troops from the country. Many soldiers have left Afghanistan and the Taliban intensified their attacks in the year after the signing.

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Life in Afghanistan is characterized by violence - a consequence of the many armed conflicts and wars in recent decades. The radical Islamic Taliban and also the so-called "Islamic State" (IS) are fighting against the government. Again and again they carry out terrorist attacks.

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