KABUL — The US military will hand over its main Bagram Air Base to
Afghan forces in about 19 days, an official, as Washington presses
on with withdrawing the last of its troops from the country.
اضافة اعلان
The vast base, built by the Soviets in the 1980s, is the biggest military
facility used by US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, with tens of thousands of
troops stationed there during the peak of America's military involvement in the
violence-wracked country.
"I can confirm we will hand over Bagram Air Base," a US defense
official told AFP without specifying when the transfer would take place.
An Afghan security official said the handover was expected in about 20 days
and the defense ministry had set up special committees to manage it.
The base, the center for nationwide command and air operations for the past
two decades, also houses a prison that held thousands of Taliban and militant
inmates over the years.
Washington has already handed over several military bases to Afghan forces
before May 1, when it began accelerating the final withdrawal of troops.
Last month it completed the withdrawal from Kandahar Airfield in southern
Afghanistan, once the second-largest foreign military base in the country.
The US withdrawal comes despite bloody clashes across the country between
the Taliban and Afghan forces.
Peace talks were launched in September in Qatar, but so far have failed to
strike any deal to end a war that has killed tens of thousands of people over
nearly two decades.
On Tuesday, a group of Afghan government negotiators was headed to Doha in
the hope of resuming stalled talks.
"Our team is ready for serious negotiations. There is no military
solution to this conflict," Najia Anwari, spokeswoman for the Ministry of
Peace, told AFP, adding that no date had been fixed for resuming the talks.
Fawzia Koofi, one of four women negotiators from the government team, said
on Twitter that she hoped for a "meaningful and result based negotiation
this time to end the bloodshed and suffering of my people."
"We need to see more willingness and sincerity in the talks as the few
months ahead of us are crucial for Afghanistan and the region."
Last month the two sides had agreed to speed up the talks, with the Taliban
saying the dialogue would begin after the festival of Eid Al-Fitr that ended on
May 16.
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