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Updated August 14th, 2021 at 16:19 IST

US Senator wants airstrikes against Taliban to stop 'overrunning' of Afghanistan's Kabul

Republican Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell has called on President Joe Biden to launch airstrikes against Taliban forces to stop "overrunning" of Kabul.

Reported by: Anurag Roushan
US
Image Credits: AP | Image:self
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As the Taliban continue to tighten the noose around Afghanistan capturing key provincial capitals, Republican Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell has called on the administration of President Joe Biden to conduct airstrikes against Taliban forces in order to prevent the Islamic militant group from 'overrunning' Kabul. Taliban forces have moved at a rapid pace capturing around half of Afghanistan's provisional capital cities in the space of a week. "The administration should quickly launch airstrikes to stem the Taliban's advances and also provide critical support to the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces who are battling hard to defend the country's capital. It is still not too late to prevent the Taliban from overrunning Kabul," McConnell said, adding that if it is not done immediately, the security threat to the United States will seemingly grow and the humanitarian cost to innocent Afghans will be disastrous. As per the report, he also talked to Adela Raz, the US Ambassador to Afghanistan before issuing his statements. 

President Biden met with top Cabinet officials 

According to the White House, President Joe Biden met with top Cabinet officials, including Secretary of State Tony Blinken, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, and took stock of the ongoing efforts to safely draw down the civilian footprint in Afghanistan. Biden had to also face the irk of Republicans over recent days for his decision to withdraw troops from Afghanistan. Biden has set August 31 as the deadline to withdraw most US forces from Afghanistan, however, on Friday, August 13, he temporarily deployed at least 3,000 troops to Afghanistan in order to evacuate Americans from the US embassy in Kabul. Defending his decision to withdraw troops from the war-torn country,  Biden, earlier this week, had also discussed the amount of money the US has spent in Afghanistan – a total that includes an estimated $81 billion in arming U.S.-backed Afghan forces. 

Taliban controls 14 of the country's 34 provincial capitals 

According to the Associated Press, the Taliban currently controls 14 of the country's 34 provincial capitals, with cities such as Kandahar and Herat being captured last week. A few media reports also stated that the terror group is now forcing women to get married to its terrorists and Afghans are also witnessing the execution of captured soldiers and unprovoked attacks on civilians by the Taliban in its recent captured areas.

Image Credits: AP

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Published August 14th, 2021 at 16:19 IST

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