KABUL (Reuters) – The Taliban said on Friday they were ready to restart peace talks with the United States, a day after President Donald Trump made a surprise visit to U.S. troops in Afghanistan and said he believed the radical group would agree to a ceasefire. Trump’s Thanksgiving Day visit ...
Read More »US to deploy military forces to Saudi Arabia, UAE after drone attacks on oil sites
DUBAI: In a press conference, US Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford announced the US would be sending “hundreds” of US troops, as well as additional air defense capabilities, to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. “In response to the ...
Read More »US to withdraw 5,000 troops from Afghanistan
WASHINGTON: The US would reportedly withdraw nearly 5,000 troops from five bases in Afghanistan within five months under a draft peace deal with the Taliban, yet the Trump administration and military officials reportedly remain in disagreement over whether to keep a CIA presence. The deal, which took months of negotiations, ...
Read More »Pentagon approves deployment of additional 1,000 troops to Middle East
US Acting Secretary of Defence Patrick Shanahan said in a statement that the Pentagon has authorized the deployment of an additional 1,000 troops for defensive purposes “to address air, naval, and ground-based threats in the Middle East “. According to Shanahan, “the recent Iranian attacks validate the reliable, credible intelligence ...
Read More »United States orders new troops to Middle East
WASHINGTON: The United States said it was deploying 1,500 additional troops to the Middle East to counter “credible threats” from Iran in a move denounced by Tehran on Saturday as “a threat to international peace”. “Increased US presence in our region is very dangerous and a threat to international peace ...
Read More »Taliban leader Omar lived next to US Afghan base: biography
BERLIN: Taliban founder Mullah Omar lived within walking distance of US bases in Afghanistan for years, according to a new book that highlights embarrassing failures of American intelligence. Washington believed the one-eyed, fugitive leader had fled to Pakistan, but the new biography says Omar was in fact living just three ...
Read More »South Korea Agrees to Pay More for US Troops
MOSCOW-Tommy Yang: Seoul agreed to demands from Washington to share more of the cost for maintaining the US forces stationed in South Korea because the option remains cheaper than boosting its own defence spending to cover the deterrence capabilities the US military presence offers, experts told Sputnik. On Sunday, top ...
Read More »Pentagon opposes Trump’s troop withdrawal plan
WASHINGTON: The US Department of Defence has informed Congress that it wants to continue to apply direct and indirect military pressure on the Taliban, while supporting nascent efforts for peace in war-ravaged Afghanistan. The Pentagon’s strategy paper, submitted to Congress this week, clearly differs with President Donald Trump’s plan to ...
Read More »Decision made for ‘significant’ US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan
WASHINGTON: United States President Donald Trump has decided to pull a significant number of troops from Afghanistan, a US official told AFP, with some reports suggesting as many as 50 per cent could leave the war-torn country. The surprise move stunned and dismayed foreign diplomats and officials in Kabul ...
Read More »Pakistan has much to lose from harbouring terrorists, says Mike Pence
KABUL: US Vice President Mike Pence made an unannounced trip to Afghanistan to meet its leaders and underscore America’s commitment to the country four months after President Donald Trump agreed to an open-ended war against insurgents there. In an apparent warning to Pakistan during his surprise visit to Afghanistan, Pence ...
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