Merkel says Afghan army collapsed at 'breathtaking pace'

[August 21, 2021]    BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday conceded that the Afghan army's resistance against Taliban militants had been misjudged.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel gestures as she speaks during a CDU/CSU campaign kick off ahead of the federal election at Tempodrom in Berlin, Germany, August 21, 2021. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse

"The army collapsed at a breathtaking pace," Merkel said at an election event. "We had expected the resistance to be stronger."

Merkel said the focus now was on rescuing people from Afghanistan, but later there would need to be a discussion on what had or had not been achieved.

The Taliban took over the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Sunday after a lightning advance across the country which took the West by surprise.

(Reporting by Andreas Rinke, writing by Tom Sims, editing by Nick Macfie)

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