TOP United States military officers warned the current administration to keep 2,500 troops in Afghanistan to prevent the collapse of the Kabul government and the rise of the Taliban.

The testimony of generals Mark Milley and Frank McKenzie to the Senate armed services committee on Tuesday appeared to contradict President Joe Biden’s claims on the advice he received, sparking Republican attacks on his administration.

In the hearing in Congress, Gen Milley called the 20-year war in Afghanistan a “strategic failure” and said he had favoured temporarily keeping some troops in the country to limit the chances of a rapid takeover by the Taliban.

He said that the result had been years in the making.

“Outcomes in a war like this, an outcome that is a strategic failure — the enemy is in charge in Kabul, there’s no way else to describe that — that is a cumulative effect of 20 years,” he said.

Gen Milley said that lessons needed to be learned, including whether the US military made Afghan officials overly dependent on their technology in an attempt to recreate the Afghan army in the US army’s image.

He refused to give details of his advice to Mr Biden earlier this year when the president was considering whether to comply with a US agreement with the Taliban made under his predecessor Donald Trump to withdraw all troops.

Gen McKenzie said he had advised that the withdrawal of all forces would “lead inevitably to the collapse of the Afghan military forces and, eventually, the Afghan government.”

The six-hour hearing marked what is expected to be an in-depth review of the US failures in Afghanistan.

When asked in an interview last month whether military advisers had recommended keeping 2,500 troops in Afghanistan, Mr Biden replied, “No. No-one said that to me that I can recall,” and he also said the advice “was split.”

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said this week that Mr Biden was referring to having received a range of advice.

Republicans have been trying to make hay from the situation, saying the president ignored advice from military officers, but Senator Elizabeth Warren, who supported Mr Biden’s decision to end US involvement in Afghanistan, said: “The Republicans’ sudden interest in Afghanistan is plain old politics.”

Statements by Gen Milley and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin continued to review the war yesterday as the Star went to print.