US PRESIDENT Joe Biden has broken his silence over the ongoing situation in Afghanistan a day after Taliban forces took control of the capital, Kabul.

Biden said that he and his national security team have been “closely monitoring” the situation on the ground although admitted: “The truth is, this did unfold more quickly than we had anticipated.”

The president said the world is now seeing the “rapid collapse” of the Afghan government but expressed it was never the US mission “to be nation-building”.

Afghan troops to blame

While acknowledging “the scenes in Afghanistan are gut-wrenching” he held a tough stance concerning US involvement in Afghanistan.

Mr Biden questioned Afghan troops’ failure to defend their country when he doubled down on his decision to withdraw from the country.

He said: “It is wrong to order American troops to step up when Afghan forces would not.”

He added: “How many more generations of American daughters & sons would you have me to send to fight when the Afghans would not?”

"A complete mess"

His speech comes as a retired senior member of the Defence Forces who helped train Afghan security forces has accused the US and Nato of abandoning the country’s people.

Lieutenant Colonel Ray Lane, a veteran of the Explosive Ordnance Disposal squad and a former commander of the Army Ordnance School, said the treatment of Afghans has been “outrageous”.

He described the situation as a “complete mess”.

“Nato and America have walked away from those people as if they don’t exist. I think it’s outrageous,” he added.

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“I was given an award by the Americans in Afghanistan, but I feel like giving that back to the American embassy now.

“Isn’t it amazing how the legendary American intelligence-gathering machine failed to predict the Taliban would take over Afghanistan in two weeks?

“It’s incredible that an organisation like the Americans could get that so wrong.

“They made a complete mess of it and talking about it upsets me.

“If this is his (Joe Biden’s) legacy, I would like to see what the downside is. He is after exposing a significant amount of people to the wrath of the Taliban.

“We know what the Taliban is and we know what they are capable of.

“It might take a few weeks or months before we see the full force of their brutality.”