Former US President George W. Bush criticized the withdrawal of NATO troops from Afghanistan on Wednesday, calling it a “mistake”, the consequences of which will be suffered especially by Afghan “women and girls.”
Afghan Women and girls were “just going to be left behind to be slaughtered by these very brutal people, and it breaks my heart,” said Bush in an interview with the German newspaper Deutsche Welle.
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The former president made the decision to send US troops to Afghanistan in 2001, after the September attacks in the United States.
Bush, who is in Germany to meet with Chancellor Angela Merkel, said he thought the leader also believed the same and praised her “dignity”, with only a few weeks left until the person in charge leaves office after 16 years as chancellor.
US and NATO troops began their withdrawal from Afghanistan in May and will conclude it on September 11.
When the troop departure began, some 2,500 US soldiers and 7,000 from other countries were present in Afghanistan.
NATO troops departure from the country puts an end to a 20-year military intervention.
The withdrawal of foreign troops coincides with the advance of the Taliban, who have occupied large parts of the Afghan territory in the face of a weak and disorganized local army that is already deprived of essential US military air support.