Portugal announces troop withdrawal from Afghanistan
By IANS |
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US troops won t leave Afghanistan in May: Senator. Image Source: IANS News
Lisbon, April 16 : Portugal announced its intention to withdraw its troops deployed in Afghanistan under the command of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) as of May 1. With this withdrawal, an important and prolonged Portuguese contribution to the fight against terrorism will be concluded, which had lasted 19 years and mobilised 4,500 military personnel, the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defence said in a joint statement on Thursday.
According to the Portuguese government, there has been important progress in Afghanistan in terms of stability and security, as well as in terms of social development, including in particular women s rights and access to education , reports Xinhua news agency.
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The almost theatrical massing of Russian troops on the Ukrainian border in recent days, which some researchers have described as the heaviest since 2015, brings home to Western leaders an uncomfortable truth: If Russia had the appetite for a major military operation, Ukraine would be at its mercy.
Putin the opportunist, who seized a moment of confusion in 2014 to grab Crimea, surely sees a similar chance now, and he has little to fear at home if he launches a military operation. Yet there are good reasons to conclude that what Putin really wants is not more Ukrainian territory, but greater respect from the US and his European neighbors for what he thinks of as his ability to advance Russia’s interests.