US terminates Afghanistan’s status as major non-NATO ally

Washington DC, Sep 23 (EFE).- United States President Joe Biden on Friday revoked the status of Afghanistan as a major non-NATO ally, a designation granted by his predecessor Barack Obama in 2012.

The president notified his decision through a memorandum to the Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.

The US had designated Afghanistan as a major non-NATO ally to facilitate the acquisition of American military equipment by the government at Kabul, then an ally of Washington, and facilitate bilateral cooperation in defense.

Earlier, the Afghan armed forces, which relied heavily on the US to acquire weapons, had already enjoyed some of these advantages, but this designation ensured that they would continue over time.

However, the situation changed radically last year, when the US ended 20 years of its war in Afghanistan, hurriedly pulling out around the end of August, leading to the Taliban’s takeover of almost the entire country.

The pullout came as a result of an agreement reached between the administration under former President Donald Trump (2017-2021) and the Taliban.

Following the termination of Afghanistan’s status, US now has 18 major non-NATO allies, among them Argentina, Australia, Bahrain, Brazil, Colombia, Egypt, Israel and Japan.

Other members of this group are Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, New Zealand, Pakistan, the Philippines, Qatar, South Korea, Thailand, and Tunisia. EFE

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