Berlin: German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Monday recognizing NATO allies have underestimated the speed of the increase in the Taliban across Afghanistan and failed to anticipate that Afghan forces were not ready to take the fight.
“Nobody speaks this.
We are all – federal government, intelligence services, international community – assess the situation,” Maas said at a press conference in Berlin.
Allies are not taken into account with the possibility “that the Afghan armed forces are not ready to face the Taliban,” Maas said.
“It misjudged us all.” The Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan on Sunday after the government collapsed, with President Ashraf Ghani conceded Islamists had won and escaped from the country.
Their victory arose after US and NATO troops began to withdraw from the country in early May, almost 20 years after they arrived.
Returning the Taliban to power and chaotic scenes who desperately tried to get Western military jets to escape from Kabul had triggered criticism at the end of the operation of two decades, which cost thousands of lives and more than one trillion dollars in funding.
In a meeting with the top of his party, German Chancellor Angela Merkel admitted that developments in the country were “bitter”.
Armin Laschet, Conservative Candidate to replace Merkel after the election on September 26, slammed operations as “the biggest custale” in NATO history.
The international community ‘assesses’ Afghan situation: German minister
