WE WON THE WAR
TALIBAN CLAIMS VICTORY AFTER BIDEN VOWS TO PULL TROOPS OUT OF AFGHANISTAN
THE Taliban have declared victory in Afghanistan after Joe Biden’s decision to pull out all remaining troops.
Mr Biden has said America’s last 2,500 military personnel will have left by the time of the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks later this year – along with 7,000 Nato personnel, including 750 Britons.
He said it was ‘time to end America’s longest war’ and security responsibilities would be transferred to the US-backed Afghan government, which controls most cities. The announcement breaks a deal with the Taliban, signed by Donald Trump, to pull out all troops by May 1 and there are fears the delay could lead to more violence while scuppering ongoing peace talks. Haji Hekmat, a Taliban ruler in the Balkh district, said his forces were ‘ready for anything’ amid uncertainty about the country’s future. ‘We are totally prepared for peace, and we are fully prepared for jihad... we have won the war and America has lost,’ he told the BBC. Former Tory defence minister Tobias Ellwood fears the withdrawal might create a power vacuum and risks ‘losing the peace’. But defence secretary Ben Wallace said there was hope for a ‘peaceful and stable future’ for the country and vowed British forces would be protected as they withdrew.
The UN estimates more than 100,000 Afghan civilians have been killed or injured since 2001, while 2,200 US and 450 British troops have died.