26 June 2017

News Story: U.S Moves To Close Afghanistan, Pakistan Affairs Office

By Samim Faramarz

U.S State Department officials have told American media organizations that the State Department’s Special Representative Office for Afghanistan and Pakistan will be closed. 

A well-known American diplomat, Richard Holbrooke, established the office for Afghanistan and Pakistan affairs during former president Barack Obama’s administration in January 2009. 

Although the State Department has not officially said anything in this regard, a number of U.S media outlets stated that the acting director and deputy director of the office both left on Friday. 

According to these officials, the office will be absorbed into the State Department’s Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs. 

“The strategic relations and cooperation between the United States and Afghanistan will continue, either through its office for Afghanistan, through the State Departments’ offices for regional affairs, or through the embassies of the two countries,” said Shekib Mustaghni, a spokesman for the Afghan foreign ministry.

Read the full story at TOLOnews