Biden Calls on Afghans to ‘Decide Their Future’ as Withdrawal Nears End

Biden Calls on Afghans to ‘Decide Their Future’ as Withdrawal Nears End
President Joe Biden (R) hosts Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani (C) and Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, Chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation, in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, on June 25, 2021. Pete Marovich/Pool/Getty Images
Reuters
Updated:

WASHINGTON—U.S. President Joe Biden met Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and his former political foe, Abdullah Abdullah, on Friday at the White House where he called on Afghans to decide the future of their country as the last U.S. troops pack up after 20 years of war and government forces struggle to repel Taliban advances.

Biden, seated beside Ghani and Abdullah in the Oval Office, called them “two old friends” and said U.S. support for Afghanistan was not ending but would be sustained despite the U.S. pullout.