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Russia calls US occupation of Afghanistan ‘catastrophe’ that even increased terror

People wave Taliban flags and shout slogans during a rally in Chaman, a town at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, on August 31, 2021, after the US pulled all its troops out of Afghanistan. (Photo by AFP)

Russia’s Foreign Ministry says some two decades of occupation of Afghanistan by the United States even exacerbated the Central Asian country’s woes.

The US occupation "was not simply a failure, but a catastrophe," spokesperson Maria Zakharova said in Moscow on Thursday, according to a report by China’s state Xinhua news agency.

“The problems of terrorism, drug trafficking, and low living standards were not resolved, but even exacerbated,” the agency added, citing the official.

The US launched the occupation in 2001 to allegedly fight terrorism thousands of miles away from America’s own borders.

The offensive temporarily topped the Taliban, but the group soon rallied and began spreading its presence to the biggest part of the Afghan soil. 

Washington announced a full withdrawal in April, without having contributed the slightest to Afghans’ lives, and even considerably immiserated their existence, despite the sheer length of the occupation.

“The final chord of the international [US-led] coalition's military presence was the death of civilians as a result of an American drone strike," Zakharova said

She was referring to a UAV attack in the northeastern Afghan province of Nangarhar last week. The US military claimed that the strike had been meant against the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group, but the attack killed nine members of an Afghan family, including six children.

Russia strongly condemns such "indiscriminate use of force," Zakharova added.

The spokesperson also called on the international community to take effective actions to prevent a humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, and reiterated Russian support for an inclusive Afghan government with the participation of all ethnic and political groups.


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