US believes Kabul could fall to Taliban in 1-3 months

The United States is concerned that the Taliban could capture Kabul in 1-3 months, far sooner than previous intelligence assessment suggested, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday, citing informed American officials.

According to the newspaper, the situation in the country is now worse than it was in June when the US intelligence predicted that Kabul could collapse in 6-12 months after the American troop pullout from Afghanistan.

"Everything is moving in the wrong direction," a source familiar with the new intelligence assessment told the paper.

The hostilities between the Afghan government and the Taliban have intensified as foreign troops began withdrawing from the country. The Taliban have since captured large rural territories and launched an offensive on major cities.

White House spokesperson Jen Psaki said on Tuesday that President Joe Biden continues to believe it is not inevitable the Taliban take over Kabul or entire Afghanistan.

On Tuesday, United States President Joe Biden ruled out any change in the plan to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan despite the Taliban increasingly gaining control over large swaths of the war-torn country, saying Afghan leaders need to come together and fight for themselves and their nation.

“Look, we spent over a trillion dollars over 20 years. We trained and equipped over 300,000 Afghan forces. Afghan leaders have to come together. We lost thousands -- lost to death and injury -- thousands of American personnel. They've got to fight for themselves, fight for their nation,” he asserted.