“But they’ve got to want to fight. They have outnumbered the Taliban,” said Biden
IANS
US President Joe Biden has said he does not regret his decision to withdraw the American troops from Afghanistan, underlining that the Afghan troops must fight for themselves.
Biden has urged Afghanistan’s leaders to unite and “fight for their nation”.
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Speaking to reporters at the White House on Tuesday, Biden said the US was keeping the commitments it had made to Afghanistan, such as providing close air support, paying military salaries and supplying Afghan forces with food and equipment.
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“We spent over a trillion dollars over 20 years. We trained and equipped with modern equipment over 300,000 Afghan forces. And Afghan leaders have to come together. They’ve got to fight for themselves, fight for their nation,” Xinhua quoted Biden as saying.
The US will continue to provide Afghan forces with close air support, food, equipment, salaries and make sure the Afghan air force is operable, said Biden.
“But they’ve got to want to fight. They have outnumbered the Taliban.”
“We are going to continue to keep our commitment,” he added, saying he does not regret his decision to withdraw US troops from the country.
Biden ordered the US military to end its mission in Afghanistan by the end of this month. The US Central Command said that over 95 per cent of the drawdown had been completed.
Last Monday, Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani said in his remarks to the parliament that Kabul had a six-month security plan to change the situation in the battleground. Meanwhile, he blamed the withdrawal of US troops for the worsening situation.
State Department spokesperson Ned Price said earlier in the day that the security situation in Afghanistan is of grave concern to the US, Xinhua reported.
“We saw bodies lying near the prison… there were dogs next to them,” said one woman who left Kunduz as the Taliban took control.
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