Taliban seize Kabul as Biden defends chaotic US withdrawal after 20-year Afghanistan war

The Taliban take control of Kabul, Afghanistan's capital, within hours, weeks ahead of U.S. intelligence predictions, as Afghan government security forces collapse without resistance. U.S.-allied Afghan President Ashraf Ghani flees the country. Chaotic scenes unfold at Kabul's Hamid Karzai Airport as thousands of Afghans attempt to board evacuation flights. On August 26, a suicide bomber kills 13 U.S. service members and more than 170 Afghan civilians at the airport gate. The last U.S. troops leave on August 30, ending the longest U.S. war in history. Biden defends the withdrawal, saying the U.S. mission was never nation-building.