MOSCOW, July 2. /TASS/. The situation in Afghanistan and the withdrawal of Western military contingents was the focus of talks between Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev and national security adviser to the Afghan president, Hamdullah Mohib, the press service of the Russian Security Council said on Friday.
"Nikolai Patrushev and Hamdullah Mohib focused their attention on the security situation in Afghanistan amid the withdrawal of Western military contingents and on the degradation of the military political situation in the north of Afghanistan," it said.
Patrushev and Mohib also discussed issues around the progress of and prospects for the intra-Afghan peace dialogue, and further bilateral cooperation between Russia and Afghanistan within multilateral formats, including among security and law enforcement agencies. "The sides discussed in detail issues of combating terrorism and drug-related crimes, cooperation in the trade and economic, and military-technical spheres," it noted.
US President Joe Biden said on April 14 he had decided to finish the operation in Afghanistan, the longest foreign military campaign in US history, and pull out American troops by September 11.
The US operation in Afghanistan has been ongoing since October 2001. At its peak in 2010-2013, the number of foreign troops in the country exceeded 150,000 soldiers. The main operational forces of the US and NATO were withdrawn from Afghanistan in 2014.