- US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin postponed his visit to Saudi Arabia.
- After the United States withdrew from Afghanistan, he was touring the Gulf region.
- The schedule is considered to be the reason for the delay.
The Pentagon said on Wednesday that US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, who is visiting the Gulf region, has postponed his visit to Saudi Arabia indefinitely, citing “a schedule problem.”
“The Secretary of State’s trip to Saudi Arabia has been postponed due to scheduling issues. He looks forward to rescheduling the itinerary as soon as possible,” said a Defense Ministry official.
Read | Brinken said the Taliban reiterated their pledge to let Afghans “freely leave”
Austin traveled to the Gulf region earlier this week, a week after the US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan ended in chaos.
He first went to Doha, Qatar with Secretary of State Anthony Brinken, and visited the main base for large-scale airlifts established by the United States from Kabul.
In the final days of the 20-year American War that President Joe Biden ended in August, the United States and its allies evacuated approximately 123,000 people, most of them Afghans who were afraid of Taliban revenge.
Austin then traveled to Kuwait and met with the country’s leaders on Wednesday. He said on Twitter that he thanked them for their “key role” in supporting the withdrawal from Afghanistan.
He also went to Bahrain and praised the “heroic work” of the US Navy personnel stationed there during the withdrawal from Afghanistan, which Austin called “the largest military airlift mission in history.”
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