Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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The end of August marks five years since the chaotic withdrawal of U.S. and Western forces from Afghanistan and the resumption of Taliban rule after 20 years of conflict.

The war there cost trillions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of lives. And many scholars now see it as a turning point in views on Western intervention and nation building.

CGTN’s Diane Hodges looks back and forward, five years on.

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