Blinken, Austin to return for Congressional hearing on challenges in Afghanistan after US withdrawal

United States Secretaries of State and Defence, Antony Blinken and Lloyd Austin, have promised to return for another congressional hearing on the challenges in Afghanistan following the US withdrawal, according to Senator Jim Inhofe's office.

"We still face a lot of real challenges in Afghanistan even though our troop presence is gone. Secretary Blinken and Secretary Austin spoke to a number of these challenges today, including how many American citizens are still left behind in Afghanistan and an update on efforts to bring to justice those who planned the Abbey Gate attack, which killed 13 U.S. service members, but their overall testimony was lacking," said Inhofe, who is also ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

"I secured commitments from both Secretary Blinken and Secretary Austin to return for a public hearing on Afghanistan," the US Senator added.

The US Secretaries of State and Defence were invited to testify before a closed Senate hearing on the US policy in Afghanistan that took place on Wednesday.

Inhofe was not satisfied with the provided testimonies since they did not contain details regarding the nature of the terrorist threat in Afghanistan today as well as Blinken's and Austin's counterterrorism plans for the future, according to Sputnik.

The Senator believes that learning from the US mistakes in Afghanistan is a way forward to deter Russia's alleged aggression in Europe or an alleged Chinese economic offensive.

( With inputs from ANI )