(JustPatriots.com)- Violence has escalated quickly in Afghanistan, with the Taliban taking advantage of the absence of American troops to regain significant ground in the country.
Many people in the U.S. have blamed the violence on President Joe Biden, saying he withdrew troops too rapidly. Now, the president of Afghanistan is jumping on board.
This week, Ashraf Ghani, the president of Afghanistan, said Biden’s decision to withdraw U.S. troops is the main reason why the security situation in their country has been deteriorating so quickly.
On Monday, Ghani spoke to a joint session of the parliament in Afghanistan. There, he called for unity as the Taliban is looking to overtake the country and reinstate Islamic rule.
According to a local news outlet, Ghani said:
“We no longer have the … opportunity of blaming each other. We all face a great test.
“The current situation is due to a sudden decision on the withdrawal of the international troops … The protection of the people is our duty.”
The U.S. Central Command said this week that the U.S. has completed more than 95% of the full withdrawal of American troops. At the same time, the Taliban has overtaken or is contesting 80% of the 421 districts in Afghanistan.
As a result of all the fighting, civilians in Afghanistan have been paying a heavy price. Casualties among civilians have risen to record levels recently. On Monday, the United Nations released a report that said the number of civilians either wounded or killed in Afghanistan has increased 50% so far this year compared to the first half of last year.
In total, roughly 3,524 civilians have been injured and 1,659 people have died as a result of the surge of violence in the country.
In addition to the Taliban, IS-Khorasan Province, another Islamic State group affiliate, has been conducting assassinations and terrorist attacks throughout Afghanistan. It’s apparently an attempt to overtake the country after the group was soundly defeated in both Syria and Iraq under former U.S. President Donald Trump.
In April, Biden announced that the U.S. would withdrawal all troops from Afghanistan by September 11, which would’ve marked the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on U.S. soil. Later, though, he revised that deadline and set it to the end of August.
But, the Afghan government is not happy with how Biden has handled the situation.
Ghani said on Monday to parliament:
“We have paid a high price for peace and showed great gentleness, but instead war was imposed on us.”
What he’s referring to is the fact that the government in Afghanistan released roughly 5,000 Taliban prisoners following pressure from the Trump administration so Afghanistan would fulfill its provision in a peace agreement signed with the Taliban last February.
The Taliban never upheld its part of the agreement, though. Yet, the Biden administration not only did nothing about it, they sped up the process to get all American troops out of Afghanistan.
