ROME: Italy has completed its troop pull-out from Afghanistan, Rome announced on Wednesday, ending a 20-year deployment there as part of an accelerated withdrawal of NATO forces.
Members of the US-backed alliance agreed in April to wrap up their 9,600-strong mission in Afghanistan after US President Joe Biden made the call to end Washington’s longest war.
“Last night, the Italian mission in Afghanistan officially ended,” Defense Minister Lorenzo Guerini said in a statement, after dozens of soldiers landed at Pisa’s international airport from Herat.
“However, the international community’s commitment to Afghanistan, starting with Italy, does not end here. It will continue in other forms, from strengthening development cooperation to supporting Afghan republican institutions.”
According to the ministry, 50,000 Italian soldiers were deployed to Afghanistan over the past 20 years after the 9/11 attacks prompted US and NATO involvement in the country.
Over that period, 53 soldiers died and 723 were injured.
Italy was one of the five countries most involved in Afghanistan along with the United States, Turkey, Britain and Germany as part of “Resolute Support.”
This NATO-led non-combat mission aimed to train Afghan forces into ensuring their country’s security after the departure of foreign forces.
Germany announced Tuesday that all its troops had left Afghanistan as the largest pull-out, that of the United States, is ongoing.
The withdrawal has fueled fears the Taliban could regain power in the country.
Rome has begun the process of bringing to Italy those Afghan citizens who helped Italian forces during the deployment. The army has identified 270 eligible people, while studying the cases of another 400.
Eighty-two Afghans, most of them interpreters and their families, arrived at Rome’s Fiumicino Airport on June 14.
Italy completes troop pull-out from Afghanistan
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Italy completes troop pull-out from Afghanistan
- “Last night, the Italian mission in Afghanistan officially ended,” Defense Minister Lorenzo Guerini said
Prabowo, Trump expected to sign Indonesia-US tariff deal in January 2026
- Deal will mean US tariffs on Indonesian products are cut from a threatened 32 percent to 19 percent
- Jakarta committed to scrap tariffs on more than 99 percent of US goods
JAKARTA: Indonesia expects to sign a tariff deal with the US in early 2026 after reaching an agreement on “all substantive issues,” Jakarta's chief negotiator said on Tuesday.
Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto met with US trade representative Jamieson Greer in Washington this week to finalize an Indonesia-US trade deal, following a series of discussions that took place after the two countries agreed on a framework for negotiations in July.
“All substantive issues laid out in the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade have been agreed upon by the two sides, including both the main and technical issues,” Hartarto said in an online briefing.
Officials from both countries are now working to set up a meeting between Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto and US President Donald Trump.
It will take place after Indonesian and US technical teams meet in the second week of January for a legal scrubbing, or a final clean-up of an agreement text.
“We are expecting that the upcoming technical process will wrap up in time as scheduled, so that at the end of January 2026 President Prabowo and President Trump can sign the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade,” Hartarto said.
Indonesian trade negotiators have been in “intensive” talks with their Washington counterparts since Trump threatened to levy a 32 percent duty on Indonesian exports.
Under the July framework, US tariffs on Indonesian imports were lowered to 19 percent, with Jakarta committing to measures to balance trade with Washington, including removing tariffs on more than 99 percent of American imports and scrapping all non-tariff barriers facing American companies.
Jakarta also pledged to import $15 billion worth of energy products and $4.5 billion worth of agricultural products such as soybeans, wheat and cotton, from the US.
“Indonesia will also get tariff exemptions on top Indonesian goods, such as palm oil, coffee, cocoa,” Hartarto said.
“This is certainly good news, especially for Indonesian industries directly impacted by the tariff policy, especially labor-intensive sectors that employ around 5 million workers.”
In the past decade, Indonesia has consistently posted trade surpluses with the US, its second-largest export market after China.
From January to October, data from the Indonesian trade ministry showed two-way trade valued at nearly $36.2 billion, with Jakarta posting a $14.9 billion surplus.
