Biden: Afghans must now ‘fight for themselves’

dpa Washington With the withdrawal of US troops largely complete, US President Joe Biden said on Tuesday Afghanistan must now fight on its own as the Tali...

dpa WashingtonWith the withdrawal of US troops largely complete, US President Joe Biden said on Tuesday Afghanistan must now fight on its own as the Taliban advances.“They’ve got to fight for themselves, fight for their nation,” Biden said.The Afghan government’s security forces should outnumber the Taliban militarily, including in terms of the strength of their troops, he said.“But they’ve got to want to fight,” Biden said.His comments came on the same day Taliban fighters captured its eighth provincial capital in days.Since the start of the withdrawal of international troops in early May, the Taliban have made massive territorial gains.Biden appealed to Afghanistan’s political leadership to pull together.“I think they’re beginning to realise they’ve got to come together politically at the top,” he said.He promised the US would continue to provide financial and military support to Afghan security forces and said he would be briefed on the situation every day.But he said he did not regret ordering the withdrawal of US troops.When the decision was made, there were some 2,500 US troops left in Afghanistan. The withdrawal is now 95 per cent finished and expected to be done by the end of the month.Soldiers from other NATO countries have already left.The US government has earmarked 3.3 billion dollars in the draft budget to support Afghan security forces next year, Biden’s spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Tuesday.Biden ordered the withdrawal of US troops because the original goal of invasion 20 years ago - to fight the al-Qaeda terrorist group - had long since been achieved, she said.