By Zahra Rahimi in TOLO News, 06 Nov, 2020 at 6:48 PM
Amid a dramatic surge in the level of violence in the country, Lt.Gen. John Deedrick, the commander of Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan (CSTC-A) on Friday said that the Taliban violence is too high and that support for the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) will continue.
“The Taliban violence is too high and we are continuing to support the Afghan security forces and the government, and we will defend the Afghan security forces in accordance with the agreement,” said Lt. Gen. Deedrick. “We do conduct strikes and operations in accordance with the US-Taliban agreement, and we will continue to do so.”
In response to a question about the foreign forces withdraw from Afghanistan, Deedrick said the US forces withdraw will be done responsibly.
“The United States and NATO remain committed to support the government of Afghanistan. We remain committed to support the Afghan security ministries,” he said.
On the closure of US military bases in Afghanistan, he said: “You know we have closed those bases… We are doing a responsible drawdown. We are down to about 4,500, but that still allows us to provide the type of support that we need to provide to the government and to the security forces.”
He said the US has provided military equipment worth $600 million to the Afghan security forces so far this year.
“We have provided as part of our commitment to both the government of Afghanistan and to the security ministries and the security forces just under 1,600 different types of vehicles, 250 Humvees. We have also provided about 1,600 night vision goggles, of course, about 10 aircraft helicopters and four fixed-wing airplanes,” added Gen. Deedrick.
https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-167586
