Biden announced in a statement that after consulting his national security advisers, “about 5,000 soldiers” instead of 3,000 will be sent to Kabul airport to facilitate the withdrawal of troops after 20 years of conflict in Afghanistan.
Threatening the Taliban with a swift and decisive response in the event of an attack on US interests, Joe Biden defended his decision to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan and promised not to “leave” this war to another United States president.
The number of provincial capitals in Afghanistan under Taliban rule has increased to 23 hours in the last hours after the conquest of three more cities: Maiman, Mehtarlama and Mazar-i-Sharif, the country’s fourth-largest city.
The fall of Mazar-i-Sharif, the capital of Balkh province, is a heavy blow to the Afghan government after the second largest city, Kandahar, and the third, Herat, were also taken by the rebels, and Kabul remained the last stronghold. against the Taliban.
“All government facilities are currently under Taliban control and sporadic fighting is taking place in some parts of the city,” a Balkh spokesman, quoted by Spanish news agency Efe under cover of anonymity after the fall of Mazar-i-Sharif, said today.
Afghan President Ashras Ghani defended the need to counter the great Taliban offensive that, in just a week, made the greatest progress in two decades of war, warning of the possible fall of Kabul.
In a televised speech, Ghani assured that the Afghan government’s “top priority” is to mobilize security forces to prevent the capture of much of the region’s capital in the country.
The president’s statement came after many Afghan troops surrendered or fled Taliban-held territory, in some cases without resistance.
The Taliban’s swift offensive was motivated by the final phase of the withdrawal of troops from the country from the US and NATO, which began in May and is expected to end on August 31.
Since then, the Taliban have taken control of 140 regional centers, 23 provincial capitals and about 10 border posts, the biggest achievement in two decades of war.
The growing fear that the Afghan capital could fall into the hands of the Taliban at any moment has prompted several countries to quickly mobilize to withdraw their national staff from Kabul, as well as Afghan citizens who have worked closely with them over the past 20 years of conflict.
Most of the US military sent by the Pentagon to help evacuate most of the US embassy staff and other Afghan citizens is expected to arrive in Kabul over the weekend.
In addition to the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and Spain, among others, have also announced that they will take similar measures in the coming days, given the current situation as the Taliban move closer and closer to Kabul.
