Former US president George W.
Bush on Wednesday said the withdrawal of NATO troops from Afghanistan was a 'mistake' and warned civilians were being left to be 'slaughtered' by the 'brutal' Taliban.
He said he thought Afghan women and girls would suffer 'unspeakable harm' as a result of the US withdrawal, adding 'it breaks my heart, in an interview with German broadcaster Deutsche Welle.
The former Republican president, who sent troops to Afghanistan in fall 2001 after the September 11 attacks on New York's World Trade Center, said he believed the consequences of the withdrawal would be 'unbelievably bad'.
President Joe Biden has insisted soldiers will completely pull out of Afghanistan by September 11, despite facing intense criticism over the decision.
Former US president George W.
Bush on Wednesday said the withdrawal of NATO troops from Afghanistan was a 'mistake' and warned civilians were being left to be 'slaughtered' by the 'brutal' Taliban in an interview with Deutsche Welle
President George W.
Bush announcing that the US and Britain had started bombing Afghanistan, in the Treaty Room of the White House on October 7, 2001
Afghanistan is facing a crisis as the Taliban snap up territory across the countryside, stretching government forces and leading to a fresh wave of internally displaced families
Bush said: 'It's unbelievable how that society changed from the brutality of the Taliban and how all of a sudden, sadly, I'm afraid Afghan women and girls are going to suffer unspeakable harm.'
Pressed on whether the withdrawal was a mistake, he said 'I think it is, yeh, because I think the consequences are going to be unbelievably bad.
'I think about all the interpreters and the people that helped not only US troops, but NATO troops and it seems like they're just going to be left behind to be slaughtered by these very brutal people, and it breaks my heart.
Speaking in the interview primarily about German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is set to retire from politics later this year after 16 years in power, Bush said he thought she 'feels the same way'.
US and NATO forces began withdrawing from Afghanistan in early May and are due to completely pull out by September 11, some 20 years after they arrived in the war-torn country.
Most of the 2,500 US and 7,500 NATO troops who were in Afghanistan when US President Joe Biden detailed the final withdrawal in April have now departed, leaving Afghan troops to fight an emboldened Taliban seemingly bent on a military victory.
The country is facing a crisis as the insurgents snap up territory across the countryside, stretching government forces and leading to a fresh wave of internally displaced families, complicated by a renewed outbreak of Covid-19.
The Taliban appear to be winning the propaganda war with videos to prove they will welcome surrendering soldiers (pictured, Taliban fighters and villagers on March 2, 2020)
Former President George W.
Bush has warned 'Afghan women and girls are going to suffer unspeakable harm' following the withdrawal of US troops