Joe Biden says he does not regret troop withdrawal from Afghanistan

WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden has ruled out any change in the withdrawal of his troops from Afghanistan despite the Taliban increasingly gaining control over large parts of the country.

“We spent over a trillion dollars over 20 years. We trained and equipped with modern equipment over 300,000 Afghan forces,” Joe Biden said after the Taliban captured several more provincial capitals with little resistance.

“Afghan leaders have to come together,” Biden said. “They’ve got to fight for themselves, fight for their nation.”

Ahead of the completion of the US withdrawal on August 31, the Pentagon and the State Department closely echoed Joe Biden’s words, expressing concerns over the Taliban s gains in the absence of US and NATO troops for the first time since 2001 invasion.

Read more: US SAYS IT IS UP TO AFGHANS TO DEFEND COUNTRY AS TALIBAN TAKE MORE TERRITORY

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the US was deeply concerned about the trend but that Afghan security forces had the capability to fight the Taliban.

“These are their military forces, these are their provincial capitals, their people to defend and it’s really going to come down to the leadership that they’re willing to exude here at this particular moment,” Kirby said.

Earlier, President Joe Biden had said the US military mission in Afghanistan will end on Aug. 31, arguing that the Afghan people must decide their own future.