Trump calls for Biden to resign over Taleban takeover of Afghanistan

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Former US president Donald Trump called for his successor Joe Biden to resign on Sunday (Aug 15) over the swift takeover of Afghanistan by Taleban militants, as US troops withdrew from the country after nearly 20 years on the ground.

“It is time for Joe Biden to resign in disgrace for what he has allowed to happen to Afghanistan,” Mr Trump said in a statement, also blasting him over a surge in Covid-19 cases in the United States and domestic immigration, economic and energy policies.

The Taleban have reconquered Afghanistan in a lightning surge 20 years after they were toppled by the US invasion.

They took control of Kabul on Sunday, more than two weeks before the Aug 31 deadline set by Mr Biden to complete the withdrawal of American troops from the country.

It was under Mr Trump that the US brokered a deal with the Taleban in Doha in 2020 that would have seen the US withdraw all its troops by May 2021, in exchange for various security guarantees from the militants.

When Mr Biden took power earlier this year, he pushed back the deadline for the withdrawal and set no conditions for it.

Mr Trump has repeatedly blasted Mr Biden over the move, saying it would have been “a much different and much more successful withdrawal” if he were still president.

“What Joe Biden has done with Afghanistan is legendary. It will go down as one of the greatest defeats in American history!” he said in another statement on Sunday.

The Biden administration is quick to point out that Mr Trump negotiated the Doha deal on the withdrawal and that a majority of the US public favours ending “forever wars.”

Mr Biden has faced heated criticism at home that the withdrawal was mismanaged, with the United States racing to evacuate its sprawling embassy just a month after he played down fears the Afghan government would crumble quickly.