As the Taliban continues to make gains in Afghanistan, US President Joe Biden stated that he does not regret his decision to withdraw troops. Biden asked Afghan authorities to get together and "fight for their country."
Following the withdrawal of US-led forces after 20 years of military operations, violence has risen across the nation. At least eight of the country's 34 provincial capitals have fallen to the Taliban, and more are under threat.
Critics slam Joe Biden's decision to let US troops leave Afghanistan
The president told reporters at the White House on Tuesday that the US was honoring its obligations to Afghanistan, including providing close air support, paying military wages, and giving food and equipment to Afghan soldiers.
Lawmakers and opponents of Biden's plan to leave Afghanistan have expressed worry about the prospect of a full Taliban takeover and the gap that would be left if American soldiers were to leave.
Last month, the United Nations estimated that 783 people were killed and 1,609 were injured in only May and June, the greatest number of civilian deaths and injuries in those two months since the tracking began in 2009. UNICEF announced on Monday that 27 children had been slain in the previous 72 hours, as per The Hill.
On Tuesday, Taliban terrorists strengthened their hold on conquered Afghan territory, controlling 65 percent of the country, as Biden encouraged Afghan leaders to fight for their country. Residents reported Afghan security troops withdrawing into the Kelagi desert, home to a big Afghan army camp, after Pul-e-Khumri, the capital of the northern province of Baghlan, fell to the Taliban on Tuesday evening.
In less than a week, Pul-e-Khumri became the sixth provincial capital to fall under the grip of Islamist extremists, NDTV reported. The US president stated that he does not regret his decision to withdraw, adding that the US had spent more than $1 trillion and lost thousands of troops over the last two decades.
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Taliban warned the US against interfering
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani stated in Kabul that he was seeking assistance from regional militias with whom he has been at odds for years. He urged Afghans to protect the country's "democratic fabric." Taliban fighters were marching into administrative facilities in Aibak, a provincial city halfway between Mazar-i-Sharif and Kabul. The majority of government soldiers appeared to have left the scene.
Following the US airstrikes to help embattled Afghan government forces, a Taliban spokesperson warned the US against interfering. Foreign policy hawks such as Rep. Liz Cheney and former Trump administration National Security Advisor John Bolton slammed Biden's withdrawal of combat soldiers and demanded that the US battle in Afghanistan continue for another two decades.
Per Daily Mail, the Taliban is not a State Department-designated foreign terrorist group, and its primary goal is local territorial control, but it is famous for providing a haven for Al-Qaeda leaders to organize the September 11, 2001 attacks. Bolton, a strong proponent of US military engagement across the world, expressed similar displeasure with the current situation in Afghanistan, criticizing both his former boss Donald Trump and Joe Biden.
Despite worldwide criticism and UN warnings that a military triumph and takeover by the Taliban would not be recognized, the Taliban have launched an attack. Appeals to return to the negotiation table and resume long-stalled peace talks with the Afghan government have also risen steeply by the Taliban.
After Biden re-committed himself to an earlier Trump vow to end America's "forever war," the US began withdrawing its soldiers from Afghanistan in April of this year. Sources on the ground indicate the pullout is almost complete, although it was supposed to be finished by September 11, a symbolic date.
In exchange for the Taliban pledges that Afghanistan would not be exploited for international terrorism, Washington will complete its troop withdrawal this month. The Taliban agreed not to attack foreign soldiers in exchange for their withdrawal, but they refused to agree to a ceasefire with the government.
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