Blackwater mercenaries will be deployed in Afghanistan following US military withdrawal

Islamabad: – US President Donald Trump is firm regarding the US military withdrawal from Afghanistan. The withdrawal will start in the next few days. President-elect Joe Biden will also not halt this military withdrawal. Still, Biden will deploy mercenaries from the Blackwater company, in Afghanistan, after taking over the reins of the United States. Talks have started that in that scenario, Blackwater mercenaries’ deployment will prove to be a threat even for Pakistan.

In February, a peace deal was signed between the United States and Taliban, at Doha in Qatar. The United States is withdrawing its military from Afghanistan, following the agreement. Till the first week of January, two thousand US soldiers will be withdrawn from Afghanistan. Even after this, two and a half thousand US soldiers will remain deployed in Afghanistan. But a website claimed that this US military withdrawal would only be for a few months.

The US-Taliban peace agreement has a term of 14 months, which would be expiring in April 2021. As per the website, although the United States is starting to withdraw its soldiers from January, Biden will be able to decide regarding the new deployments after April.

Instead of pushing the US soldiers in a long-drawn war in Afghanistan, Biden may prefer to assign the task to a company like Blackwater, who provides mercenaries. Two years ago, Blackwater (Current name- Academi) Chief Eric Prince had also proposed deploying the company’s mercenaries in Afghanistan. The website reminded that the Blackwater company had started a campaign ‘We are coming’ for Afghanistan last year.

Incidents of indiscriminate firing by the Blackwater mercenaries on the locals had been reported during Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. Many cases are pending in various international courts against this private company. A few days ago, President Trump awarded pardon to 15 Blackwater convicts. These included four mercenaries involved in a massacre in Iraq. The concerned website pointed to the Trump decision regarding the Blackwater mercenaries.

Therefore, even if the US military is being withdrawn from Afghanistan, it is only a temporary measure. President-elect Joe Biden can make an announcement for new deployments in Afghanistan in the next few months. The website claimed that he might also announce that the task has been assigned to the mercenaries from Blackwater. The website claimed that this Blackwater deployment would pose a threat to Pakistan. A few years ago, a US embassy official, Raymond Davis, had killed two Pakistani spies in Pakistan. But Pakistan had to release him due to the pressure from the United States. The website warned that Pakistan might face similar incidents after Blackwater mercenaries are deployed in Afghanistan.