Afghanistan president vows to defend cities against Taliban onslaught

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani (Rahmat Gul/AP)

The Afghan president blamed the US troops’ speedy pullout for the worsening violence in his country and said that his administration would now focus on protecting provincial capitals and major urban areas in the face of the rapidly advancing Taliban.

Ashraf Ghani also urged politicians to back a national mobilisation drive against the Taliban amid an intensifying war between the Taliban and Afghan government forces over the past few months as US and Nato troops complete their pullout from the war-torn country.