Afghanistan crisis: Afghan army collapse took US by surprise says Defense Secretary Austin

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told Congress on Tuesday that the Afghan army's sudden collapse caught the Pentagon off-guard as he acknowledged miscalculations in America's longest war including corruption and damaged morale in Afghan ranks.

"The fact that the Afghan army we and our partners trained simply melted away - in many cases without firing a shot, took us all by surprise," Austin told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Austin was speaking at the start of two days of what are expected to be some of the most contentious hearings in memory over the chaotic end to the war in Afghanistan, which cost the lives of U.S. troops and civilians and left the Taliban back in power.

The Senate and House committees overseeing the U.S. military are holding hearings on Tuesday and Wednesday, where Republicans are hoping to zero in on what they see as mistakes that President Joe Biden's administration made toward the end of the two decade-old war.

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