Afghan army collapse 'took us all by surprise,' says US defense secretary

Lloyd Austin praised U.S. personnel who helped airlift 1,24,000 people out of Afghanistan amid Taliban takeover.

WASHINGTON: U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told Congress on Tuesday that the Afghan army`s sudden collapse caught the Pentagon "by surprise," as military leaders confronted a contentious Senate hearing about how and why America lost its longest war.

Republican lawmakers accused President Joe Biden of lying about recommendations from his military that some troops should be kept in Afghanistan. Even Biden`s Democrats expressed frustration with a chaotic withdrawal that left U.S. troops dead and American citizens behind.

Biden`s approval ratings have been badly damaged by last month`s spectacular collapse of the two-decade war effort, with painful images of Afghans clinging desperately to a U.S. military plane as they tried to escape Taliban rule.