U.S. Troops Are Going to Leave Afghanistan, Not Central Asia

The U.S. government wants to deploy its troops in Central Asia after withdrawal from Afghanistan and has been negotiating with the region’s countries, including Kazakhstan, according to Interfax news agency citing Zalmay Khalilzad, the Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation at the U.S. State Department.

As Khalilzad has noted, the U.S. authorities want the Central Asian states to cooperate with Washington in the fight against terrorism and the economic development of Afghanistan.

«No official decision has been made yet but I’d like to say that the discussions, negotiations are continuing. The U.S. is full of determination to build potential in the region to protect its national security and to cooperate with other countries to pursue common interests,» he said on June 13 at the online briefing in Kazakhstan. This statement was made while the Khalilzad responded to the question about the possible deployment of  U.S. troops in Central Asia.

According to Khalilzad during his two-day-long official visit, he is going to meet President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to discuss some bilateral cooperation issues.

He has also noted that the U.S. and Kazakhstan have strong relations in the area of security, human rights and economic cooperation.

Currently, the U.S. government and its allies have been implementing the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan that should be done by September 11, 2021. 

According to some reports, Washington wants the American military to stay in Central Asia or the Middle East to keep controlling the situation in Afghanistan with help of either manned and unmanned aircraft. The U.S. military bases near Afghan borders should also help to avoid an uprising against the current Afghan government, which has been established after defeating the Taliban rule.