Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Today I visited Kabul and affirmed Australia’s support for the Afghanistan Government and people during this time of change for the country.
I was pleased to meet again with HE President Ashraf Ghani. We discussed the challenges of COVID-19, the international troop withdrawal, support for a stable and secure Afghanistan, and our shared hopes for the ongoing peace negotiations.
I was also pleased to meet with the Minister for Women’s Affairs, Hasina Safi, who joined our meeting, and to discuss how Australia and Afghanistan have worked together to support and improve the rights of women and girls – a development we want to see maintained.
(Last Updated On: May 10, 2021)
Chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation Abdullah Abdullah has welcomed the Taliban’s announcement of a temporary ceasefire over Eid-ul-Fitr but said this is not a permanent solution.
He said: “We believe that the solution to the current crisis in the country is to speed up negotiations, declare a permanent ceasefire and end the war permanently.”
In a statement issued Monday, Abdullah said however that an Eid ceasefire would provide a short period of calm for the people, “but was not a fundamental and permanent solution to the country’s problem.”
“Afghanistan’s crisis has no military solution. The experience of the last fourteen years shows that the version of violence and killing is not only unsolvable but also adds to the depth of the crisis and conflict,” he said.
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Army chief Rick Burr has reassured the tens of thousands of troops who served in Afghanistan their legacy in Australiaâs longest war is not tarnished by the misconduct of a few special forces members accused of war crimes.
Lieutenant-General Burrâs Anzac Day message comes as troops who have left the Defence Force tell Veterans Affairs Minister Darren Chester they donât want to be seen as âbroken and bustedâ.
Chief of Army Lieutenant-General Rick Burr says Australia will continue to promote stability in Afghanistan to preserve the gains it made over the past two decades.
Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
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Australian government moving on from war crimes in Afghanistan to prepare war against China
Just weeks after being installed as the Liberal-National Coalition’s defence minister, Peter Dutton declared yesterday that his top priority is to assure all military personnel that the government “has their back” after an official report documenting Australian war crimes in Afghanistan had dented troop “morale.”
Dutton’s comments were the most explicit statement yet from a government minister detailing the relationship between the official attempts to bury the Afghan revelations, and the preparations for even greater crimes, centreing on Australia’s frontline role in escalating US-led plans for conflict with China.