Sunday, 10 January 2021 _President Ashraf Ghani says the war in Afghanistan has killed only 98 Americans since 2015, while over 40,000 Afghan civilians and troops have been killed in the same period.
“Since I have been President – since 2015 – the number of Americans that have lost their lives is 98. While we, the Afghan people, have lost over 40,000 civilians and military. We are in the front line of your security,” President Ghani told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour.
“The key issue is not charity for us or responsibility,” the Afghan president said.
“We are assuming responsibility for our future. So if the United States would like to withdraw, all we ask for is a process that is predictable that is mutually agreed,” he noted.
Ghani urged US President-elect Joe Biden to make his decision and “then together we will forge a pathway to make sure our mutual interests are ensured.”
The Biden administration must “define what US security interests in Afghanistan and the region are. No one wants a return to a heavy footprint,” Ghani said.
“The scale and scope of US presence in Afghanistan needs to be defined. Here the most critical issue is how to marry a condition-based approach with a time-based approach,” he added.
The administration of Donald Trump recently announced that the United States will reduce the current number of American troops in Afghanistan from 5,000 to 2,500 by January 15, 2021.
In a historic deal clinched between the US and the Afghan Taliban militant group in February, the United States promised to pull out all its troops by mid-2021 in return for the Taliban to stop their attacks on US-led occupation foreign forces in Afghanistan.
The Taliban agreed to negotiate a permanent ceasefire and a power-sharing formula with the Afghan government. However, the militant group has not yet fulfilled any of its commitments.
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