Antony Blinken defended the US decision to withdraw troops from Afghanistan two years ago and vowed to continue to support the Afghan people.

Afghan Voice Agency(AVA)_Monitoring, “The decision to withdraw from Afghanistan was an incredibly difficult one, but also the right one,” Blinken said in a press conference.

“We ended America’s longest war. For the first time in 20 years, we don’t have another generation of young Americans going to fight and die in Afghanistan,” he said.

The top American diplomat said that the US continues to work with the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) particularly over the rights of women and girls.

“We’ve been very clear with the Islamic Emirate (IEA) and dozens of countries around the world: any normal relationship between the Islamic Emirate (IEA) and other countries will be blocked unless and until the rights of women and girls – among other things – are actually supported,” Blinken said.

Blinken said that between the period of the withdrawal and today, nearly 34,000 Special Immigrant Visas have been issued to Afghan applicants and their family members.

He said that the US remains the primary donor to the Afghan people, sending $1.9 billion in aid since August 2021.

“We have some enduring commitments when it comes to Afghanistan – those haven’t changed,” Blinken said.