CIA Director William Burns made a recent unannounced visit to Kabul, a senior politician and a well-placed public figure said, the Associated Press reported.
Separately, a senior former Afghan security official deeply familiar with the country’s counterterrorism program said two of six units trained and run by the CIA to track militants have already been transferred to Afghan control.
The three men spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss sensitive security issues with the media.
In Washington, the CIA declined to comment when asked about the director’s schedule and the agency’s role in Afghanistan.
In deciding this month on an unconditional troop pullout by Sept. 11, President Joe Biden had argued that a key objective of the US invasion — to prevent terror attacks on the US from Afghan soil — has been met.
The pullout deadline marks the 20th anniversary of the al-Qaida terror attacks on the US, which triggered the US invasion of Afghanistan.
However, senior US officials have cautioned that the withdrawal poses risks.
Burns recently told the US Congress that neither al-Qaida nor ISIL terrorists have the ability to stage attacks against the US Still, “when the time comes for the US military to withdraw, the US government’s ability to collect and act on threats will diminish, that’s simply a fact,” he claimed.
Burns quietly visited Kabul last weekend, the politician and the public figure said. They would not say whom Burns met with, but said some of the discussions addressed Afghanistan’s preparedness after the US pullout.
RHM/PR
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