KABUL: Afghan security forces took control of Bagram Airfield, a key American military base near Kabul, as foreign troops are leaving the country after nearly 20 years since the 2001 US-led invasion of Afghanistan.
Bagram Airfield, some 50 kilometers north of Kabul, served as the hub of America’s operations against the Taliban and Al-Qaeda following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the US.
The withdrawal from Bagram Airfield is seen as an indication that the US is completing the drawdown months ahead of President Joe Biden's September deadline, despite a recent spike in Taliban attacks against Afghan government forces.
"All coalition and American troops have left Bagram Airbase," Fawad Aman, a spokesman for the defense ministry, told Arab News as the base was handed over to the Afghan National Defense Security Forces (ANDSF).
"ANDSF will protect the base and use it to combat terrorism," he said.
He refused to share the details of handover and what equipment the US troops have left behind.
Before the US troops, Bagram Airfield was used by Russians during the Soviet-Afghan war in 1979-89, but it was under the US occupation that the base had swollen into a fortress city with shops, American fast-food outlets, and sports venues. At the peak of US military presence in 2012, the base saw more than 100,000 troops pass through its compound.
Part of the facility served as a detention center for suspected militants, earning notoriety over alleged torture of its inmates.
The Taliban in a statement on Friday welcomed the US departure from Bagram as a "positive step," adding that they were waiting for a complete withdrawal of all foreign soldiers from Afghan soil.
As most NATO soldiers have already exited, in accordance with a historic deal signed by Washington and the Taliban in February last year, about 650 American servicemen are expected to stay in Afghanistan to protect the US embassy in Kabul and, possibly, the city’s airport, despite repeated Taliban threats against any foreign military presence in the country after the withdrawal deadline.
The US and NATO leaving comes as the Taliban have captured several dozens of districts in the last few weeks and also seized more grounds near the Bagram base in the past two days, according to local sources.
While the Taliban advances come both by force and through the surrender of Afghan government forces, the government has in turn started resurrecting and arming local militias to assist its troops.
Continued violence risked a civil war in Afghanistan, US top commander in Afghanistan Gen. Austin S. Miller said during his last conference in Kabul earlier this week, as he warned that should have the world worried.
Afghan forces take control of Bagram Airfield as US troops withdraw
https://arab.news/rezpb
Afghan forces take control of Bagram Airfield as US troops withdraw
- Bagram Airfield served as the hub of America’s operations against the Taliban and Al-Qaeda
- Withdrawal from the airbase comes amid a recent spike in Taliban attacks against Afghan government forces
UN torture expert decries Pakistan ex-PM Khan’s detention
- Khan’s party alleges government is holding him in solitary confinement, barring prison visits
- Pakistan’s government rejects allegations former premier is being denied basic rights in prison
GENEVA: Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan is being held in conditions that could amount to torture and other inhuman or degrading treatment, the United Nations’ special rapporteur on torture warned Friday.
Alice Jill Edwards urged Pakistan to take immediate and effective action to address reports of the 73-year-old’s inhumane and undignified detention conditions.
“I call on Pakistani authorities to ensure that Khan’s conditions of detention fully comply with international norms and standards,” Edwards said in a statement.
“Since his transfer to Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi on September 26, 2023, Imran Khan has reportedly been held for excessive periods in solitary confinement, confined for 23 hours a day in his cell, and with highly restricted access to the outside world,” she said.
“His cell is reportedly under constant camera surveillance.”
Khan an all-rounder who captained Pakistan to victory in the 1992 Cricket World Cup, upended Pakistani politics by becoming the prime minister in 2018.
Edwards said prolonged or indefinite solitary confinement is prohibited under international human rights law and constitutes a form of psychological torture when it lasts longer than 15 days.
“Khan’s solitary confinement should be lifted without delay. Not only is it an unlawful measure, extended isolation can bring about very harmful consequences for his physical and mental health,” she said.
UN special rapporteurs are independent experts mandated by the Human Rights Council. They do not, therefore, speak for the United Nations itself.
Initially a strong backer of the country’s powerful military leadership, Khan was ousted in a no-confidence vote in 2022, and has since been jailed on a slew of corruption charges that he denies.
He has accused the military of orchestrating his downfall and pursuing his Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party and its allies.
Khan’s supporters say he is being denied prison visits from lawyers and family after a fiery social media post this month accusing army leader Field Marshal Asim Munir of persecuting him.
According to information Edwards has received, visits from Khan’s lawyers and relatives are frequently interrupted or ended prematurely, while he is held in a small cell lacking natural light and adequate ventilation.
“Anyone deprived of liberty must be treated with humanity and dignity,” the UN expert said.
“Detention conditions must reflect the individual’s age and health situation, including appropriate sleeping arrangements, climatic protection, adequate space, lighting, heating, and ventilation.”
Edwards has raised Khan’s situation with the Pakistani government.
