United States Should Recognize That Afghan War Ended in Their Defeat, Says Russian Embassy in US

On 31 August 2021, US forces completed their withdrawal from Afghanistan, ending a 20-year-long military presence.

The United States should recognize that the war in Afghanistan ended in their defeat, the Russian Embassy in the United States said to mark the first anniversary of the withdrawal of American troops from the Islamic country.

"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," the embassy said in a statement.

The Embassy emphasized that the US military campaign in Afghanistan "turned into a tragedy for ordinary Afghans".

"According to official data, more than 150,000 Afghans, including 48,000 civilians, were killed, and another 75,000 were wounded. Hundreds of thousands have become refugees. The economic achievements in the former Islamic Republic, so widely advertised by American partners, appeared to be 'Potemkin villages', which vanished immediately after the withdrawal of foreign troops. Trillions of US taxpayer dollars have been wasted," the embassy said.

According to the embassy, after a year of US troops' withdrawal, a humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding in Afghanistan.

"A humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding in Afghanistan a year later, threatening to become even more lethal than 20 years of military conflict were," the embassy said.

The Russian Embassy in the United States noted that all funds of the Central Bank of Afghanistan that have been frozen by the US should be returned.

"It is necessary now to alleviate the sufferings of Afghans. Huge sums are needed to reconstruct the destroyed country. The first obligatory step to this end is to return all funds of the Central Bank of Afghanistan that have been frozen by the US without conditions," the embassy added.

The Biden administration decided in April to terminate the US presence in Afghanistan after a 20-year occupation at a cost of $2 trillion and the death of more than 2,300 American soldiers. The American president vowed to complete the withdrawal by the 20th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, which led to the infamous US-led War on Terror and invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan.

The United States withdrew from Afghanistan in the specified time-frame, but did so haphazardly, causing chaos at the Kabul airport, with Afghans desperately attempting to make it out of the country, and 13 American soldiers killed in a bombing perpetrated by a local branch of the Daesh* terror group.

As a result, the western coalition left the country by the end of the summer - the last American soldier leaving Afghan territory on 31 August.

The Biden administration left behind thousands of US citizens and permanent residents, as well as military equipment worth $85Bln., according to reports.

As the Taliban** entered Kabul, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani resigned and fled the country. The Taliban filled the void by creating its own government.

The Biden administration seemed amazed at how quickly the Afghan government fell and was overtaken by the Taliban, having previously assured the public that such swift developments were highly unlikely.

The US faced widespread criticism over its execution of the Afghanistan withdrawal.

*Daesh (also known as ISIS/ISIL/IS) is a terrorist group banned in Russia

** An organization is under UN sanctions over terrorist activities