US President Joe Biden held a press conference on Monday, where he said he stands “squarely” behind the US exit from Afghanistan as he faces withering criticism over the Taliban’s lightening fast conquest of the war-torn country.
“How many more American lives is it worth?” he asked.
He said that despite the “messy” pullout, “there was never a good time to withdraw US forces”. Biden also blamed the collapse of the Afghanistan government on its leaders and the lack of willingness on the part of Afghan troops to fight the Taliban. Biden added that “American troops cannot and should not be fighting in a war and dying in a war that Afghan forces are not willing to fight for themselves.”
On Sunday, the Taliban declared their victory after the Afghan President, Ashraf Ghani, fled and the government collapsed.
The US said that it would keep troops at Kabul’s airport to continue evacuating US citizens Afghans who have supported US troops “as long as it was safe to do so.” “We will be working around the clock to relocate as many eligible individuals as we can,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said.
The airport was forced to cease operations for several hours after crowds swarmed the runway in their attempt to get onto planes and flee the country.
It was confirmed by US officials that several people died during the chaos, with some falling from a departing military transport aircraft. US forces also shot and killed two individuals who had guns. Seven people have reportedly died in total.
The Taliban have announced what they are calling a general amnesty for government officials and have urged them to return to work.
Sources: MSN, BBC
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