The United States will provide an additional 300 million USD in civilian assistance for Afghanistan, said the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a tweet posted yesterday, April 21.
Secretary Blinken said the US Secretary of State and USAID will pay nearly 300 million USD in civilian aid to Afghanistan. “This demonstrates our enduring support and desire to see Afghanistan build on the gains of the past 20 years,” Blinken said.
In his speech about the US military withdrawal from Afghanistan delivered on April 14, US President Joe Biden said that Washington’s diplomatic efforts and humanitarian assistance will continue in Afghanistan after the US departure. “We’ll continue to support the government of Afghanistan. We will keep providing assistance to the Afghan national defenses and security forces,” he said.
We will provide nearly $300m in additional civilian assistance from @StateDept and @USAID for Afghanistan. This demonstrates our enduring support and desire to see Afghanistan build on the gains of the past 20 years.
— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) April 21, 2021
Later, Blinken paid an unannounced visit to Kabul meeting President Ghani and other government officials. The US top diplomat reiterated the continuation of US diplomatic efforts and humanitarian assistance for Afghanistan.
As scheduled by the Biden administration, the US troops will leave Afghanistan by September 11, the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
Following the Biden announcement, NATO’s Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that NATO will also start withdrawing from May 01 and will leave Afghanistan together with the US troops.
Nearly 9,600 NATO troops, including 2,500 US troops, are currently stationed in Afghanistan.
