US watchdog blames Washington, Ghani for the fall of KabulSIGAR identifies six factors that contributed to the collapse of the Afghan government and the return of the Taliban to power.In a report published in May, the watchdog said the withdrawal of US troops prompted the collapse of the Afghan army, while another report released days after the Taliban’s takeover in August 2021 blamed the US’s failure to “implement a coherent strategy” over 20 years in Afghanistan.These included the failure of the Afghan government to recognise that the US would actually leave, the exclusion of the Afghan government from US-Taliban talks, which weakened it; the Afghan government’s insistence that the Taliban would somehow be integrated into the country, and the Taliban’s unwillingness to compromise.The US invaded Afghanistan in 2001 following the 9/11 attacks and after accusing the Taliban, which was in power, of harbouring al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.US forces swiftly took over the country, but they struggled to defeat a guerrilla warfare campaign by the Taliban in the following 20 years."