Pentagon sounds the alarm over 'deteriorating situation' in Afghanistan

The Pentagon has conceded a “deteriorating security situation” in Afghanistan following a 20-year of the American war in the country that has left hundreds of thousands of Afghans dead and millions more displaced.  

“What we have seen is a deteriorating security situation on the ground, no question about that, that the Taliban continues to take district centers,” Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said in an interview with CNN on Friday.

“We are seeing them continue to advance on district centers around the country, and it is concerning,” he added.

They Taliban have claimed to now control 85 percent of Afghanistan. A Taliban delegation made the claim during a recent visit to Moscow where they offered reassurances that their recent gains will not threaten Russia or its Central Asian allies.

Kirby said he was “not in a position to quantify or to validate” the Taliban’s claims on how much territory it controls.

“Claiming territory or claiming ground doesn't mean you can sustain that or keep it over time,” the spokesman added.

According to Long War Journal, the Taliban controlled 204 of 398 districts, as of Monday. The Taliban are contesting another 124 districts, according to the tracker.

Kirby also said that the United States will continue to support Afghan forces financially, as well as helping maintain Afghan aircraft from outside the country.

“We're giving them another 30-plus Black Hawk helicopters here, two coming this month, as well as other strike aircraft. They've got modern weaponry. They've had training and the ability to be in the field with American forces much over the last 20 years,” Kirby said. “They've got the capacity. They've got the capability. Now it's time to have that will.”

Kirby’s comments came after US President Joe Biden said on Thursday that continuing the war in Afghanistan would only lead to further casualties, and insisted that he would withdraw US troops by August 31.

“I will not send another generation of Americans to war in Afghanistan with no reasonable expectation of achieving a different outcome,” Biden said.

“Our military commanders advised me that once I made the decision to end the war, we needed to move swiftly to conduct the main elements of the drawdown. And in this context, speed is safety,” he added.

US troops may not leave Afghanistan, Gen. Miller suggests

A top US military commander has suggested that many American troops may not leave the country even after the promised withdrawal.

Despite Biden’s claims US forces not look to be leaving Afghanistan soon. Last week, a top US military commander said that the United States should not turn its back on Afghanistan, suggesting that many American troops may not leave the country even after the promised withdrawal.

"I would like us not to just turn our backs on this," Army Gen. Scott Miller, the top US commander in Afghanistan, said in an interview on Sunday.

At its peak in mid-2011, nearly 100,000 US troops passed through the compound, apart from some 35,000 US contractors, which have now plummeted to 2,500 troops and 18,000 contractors.

The full withdrawal of some 2,500 US troops from the country is expected to complete by mid or late July, ahead of US President Joe Biden’s September 11 deadline.

The US will reportedly leave hundreds of troops in Afghanistan even after the promised withdrawal from the war-torn country.

About 650 American troops are likely to stay in Afghanistan to provide security at the US Embassy after US forces leave the country later this summer, The Associated Press reported last week. Hundreds of more troops will also stay at the Kabul airport.

The US invaded Afghanistan in October 2001 under the pretext of the so-called war against terror.

Washington has spent trillions of dollars waging war on the impoverished country, which has left hundreds of thousands of Afghan civilians dead.

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