US must admit its defeat in Afghanistan: Russia

Washington [US], August 31 (ANI): On the first anniversary of the US exit from Afghanistan, Russia on Wednesday asked Washington to admit that its presence in the war-torn country that lasted for two decades ended in "defeat".
In a statement by the Russian Embassy in Washington, Moscow stated that terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda and ISIS have taken root in the country after the foreign troops' withdrawal last year.
"The 20-year US military campaign in Afghanistan ended a year ago. The results of the longest war in the history of the United States are deplorable. Al-Qaeda has maintained a presence in the country. With the connivance of the authorities of the Islamic Republic and their Western partners, ISIS and other terrorist groups have taken root on Afghan territory. Drug production has increased tenfold, turning Afghanistan into a narco-state," the embassy said in a statement posted on Facebook.
In a strongly worded statement, Moscow said the US military campaign turned into a tragedy for ordinary Afghans.
"...more than 150,000 Afghans, including 48,000 civilians, were killed, and another 75,000 were wounded. Hundreds of thousands have become refugees," the embassy said while adding that "trillions of dollars of U.S. taxpayers have been wasted."
It added that the humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding in Afghanistan a year later, threatening to become even more lethal scale-wise than 20 years of military conflict were. Meanwhile, Russia also urged Washington to unconditionally return all funds of the Central Bank of Afghanistan frozen by the US.
"We are convinced that Washington should admit that the Afghan war ended in defeat for the United States. Moreover, it brought nothing but troubles and the collapse of false hopes to the Asian state. It is necessary now to alleviate the suffering of Afghans. Huge sums are needed to reconstruct the destroyed country," the statement added.
On August 31, 2021, US forces withdrew from the country after two decades of military presence. Since the Taliban's takeover, the Afghan population has been facing a deepening economic, humanitarian and security crisis.
After two decades of war, tens of thousands of lives lost, and trillions of dollars spent, the Taliban are back in power in Kabul and apparently providing sanctuary to al-Qaeda once again, according to regional experts.
Today, the Taliban marked the one-year anniversary of the foreign troops' withdrawal from Afghanistan on Wednesday.
The Bagram air base, which was once the largest US military base in the country, is where the Taliban's leadership and fighters gathered, The Washington Post reported.
Images released by the Islamic outfit's media outlet show fighters marching in uniforms, followed by columns of armoured vehicles bearing the group's black and white flag, according to the US daily.
"We are gathered here to celebrate the first anniversary of the withdrawal," Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesperson told local media attending the ceremony. "I am proud that our country was liberated on this day and American troops were forced to leave Afghanistan," he said. (ANI)