Taliban Victory in Afghanistan 'Not a Foregone Conclusion'
Voice of America
Top U.S. defense and military officials are holding out hope the Afghan government will be able to withstand the latest Taliban military offensive, launched days ago as U.S. and coalition troops began leaving the country. تحرير قاعدة عسكرية للعدو في مديرية بغلان المركزية pic.twitter.com/bQ0HbRxUIk 8 Taliban including 3 of their key #commanders and senior members were killed in outskirts of Lashkar Gah city, #Helmand province as a result an airstrike today. Also, shadow deputy #governor of Taliban for Helmand with 2 other terrorists were wounded as a result of the strike. pic.twitter.com/lKqfYnvK5W
Provincial officials from across Afghanistan have warned of mounting losses in a series of attacks, some with heavy casualties, since the United States officially began its withdrawal on May 1. But the Pentagon insisted Thursday that the withdrawal was "going according to plan," with no surprises. "It's not a foregone conclusion, in my professional military estimate, that the Taliban automatically win and Kabul falls," General Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters at the Pentagon. "I'm a personal witness … that the Afghan security forces can fight," Milley, who had previously served in Afghanistan, added. "We've been supporting them, for sure, but they've been leading the fight."Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a camp for internally displaced people in Rafah on May 27, 2024. Fire rages following an Israeli strike on an area designated for displaced Palestinians, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, in this still picture taken from a video, May 26, 2024. Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a camp for internally displaced people in Rafah on May 27, 2024. A member of the bomb squad of the Israeli police collects debris after a rocket fired by Palestinian militants struck in the Israeli city of Herzliya on May 26, 2024.
Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili, right, and Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, left, leave a podium after marking Independence Day in Tbilisi, Georgia, May 26, 2024. Demonstrators with Georgian national and EU flags rally during an opposition protest against a foreign influence bill as they mark their country's Independence Day, in the center of in Tbilisi, Georgia, May 26, 2024.