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This is VOA News. Via remote, I'm Marissa Melton. Pakistan has formally conveyed to the United States that Islamabad will not provide military bases to Washington for counter-terrorism operations in Afghanistan after all international troops exit that war-torn country. Several top Pakistani government officials, privy to a flurry of recent high-level bilateral talks, shared some details Tuesday of the discussions with VOA on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak with the media. A Pakistani official, who deals with national security matters, told VOA that Pakistan doesn't want terrorism, but there will be no bases possible on the Pakistani soil. He said negotiators have stopped raising the issue in talks. Since U.S. President Joe Biden announced in mid-April that all American troops will be out of Afghanistan by September 11, his national security team has been reaching out to regional allies to arrange for placement of military facilities. The bases are expected to be used for intelligence-gathering and carrying out counterterrorism strikes if Afghanistan descends into another round of civil war after U.S. and NATO troops depart.
The U.S. military estimates that it's completed more than half of its withdrawal from Afghanistan, putting it far ahead of the pace needed to be out by September 11. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg acknowledged on Monday at an Atlantic Council event that the decision for the U.S.-led NATO force to leave Afghanistan "entails risk" but he added that NATO built and trained Afghan security forces to take responsibility for security in their own country. The withdrawal has sparked fears that Afghanistan's civil war could intensify and spiral out of control. More on that and all the stories we're covering available at our website voanews.com. This is VOA News.
