Biden defends US pullout from Afghanistan despite panic in Kabul

Kabul

A US soldier points his gun towards an Afghan passenger at the Kabul airport in Kabul on August 16, 2021. PHOTO | AFP

What you need to know:

  • In his first public appearance since the Islamist insurgents seized control of the country at the weekend, he admitted the Taliban advance had unfolded more quickly than expected.
  • Heaping criticism at the Western-backed government that was ousted with shockingly little resistance, he said US troops could not defend a nation whose leaders "gave up and fled", as did President Ashraf Ghani.