Thursday, 12 August 2021 20:30 [ Last Update: Thursday, 12 August 2021 20:57 ]
Speed of Taliban advance surprises U.S., alarms allies
When the U.S. President announced the decision to withdraw U.S. forces from Afghanistan this spring, his administration expected the Afghan military to defend key cities and perhaps battle the Taliban to a stalemate. Before the current Taliban offensive, U.S. officials said they didn’t expect the takeover of any provincial capital until fall at the earliest. 224/203