U.S. President Joe Biden said Monday that he stands "squarely behind" his decision to withdraw U.S. forces from Afghanistan and that the Afghan government's collapse was quicker than anticipated. Biden said he'd rather take the criticism over the fallout in Afghanistan than pass the decision to a fifth president. Biden described the images coming out of Afghanistan — particularly at the airport in Kabul, where thousands of Afghans descended in hopes of fleeing the country — as "gut-wrenching." "American troops cannot and should not be fighting the war and dying in a war that Afghan forces are not willing to fight for themselves," Biden said. (Rahmat Gul/The Associated Press)The Taliban captured an array of modern military equipment when they overran Afghan forces who failed to defend district centres.

Source: CBC News August 16, 2021 22:12 UTC