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President Ashraf Ghani on Monday blamed the deterioration of the military situation in Afghanistan on the “sudden” decision by the United States to withdraw all American soldiers from the country this summer.
While the fighting continues in Afghanistan between the national army and the Taliban, President Ashraf Ghani blames, in a speech delivered on Monday, August 2, the deterioration of the military situation in the country to the “sudden” withdrawal of American troops.
“The current situation is due to the sudden decision” of Washington, declared the Afghan president during a speech in the Parliament, on the bottom of all-out offensive of the Taliban. After having conquered vast rural areas during the last three months, in favor of the final withdrawal of foreign troops, the insurgents have tightened their grip in recent days on three major cities of the country.
Referring to an “imported” peace process, Ashraf Ghani also accused Washington of having pushed for “the destruction of the Republic” and the “legitimization” of the Taliban by negotiating directly with them in Doha, talks having resulted in early 2020 in a agreement providing for the departure of foreign troops from Afghanistan.
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In his speech, the president said he had prepared a six-month plan to stem the advance of the Taliban, without giving details.
Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban, on Twitter called the Afghan president’s comments “nonsense”.
Afghan forces have so far offered little resistance to the Taliban’s advance, and essentially control only the main roads and the provincial capitals.
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But while the withdrawal of international forces is almost complete, urban fighting for several days between Afghan forces and the Taliban in Lashkar Gah, one of the three Afghan provincial capitals under direct threat from the insurgents.
They also confront Afghan forces in the suburbs of Kandahar and Herat, the second and third most populous cities in the country.
With AFP