Withdrawing for Afghanistan is the beginning of a “new stage of chaos” for the west, a leading MP and former military officer has warned.
Tom Tugendhat MP, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, said that the conflict was “not over” despite early indicators the Taliban were interested in working with former western enemies.
The Conservative MP, who clashed with Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab at a committee hearing on Wednesday, said: “The reality is, of course, this isn’t the end of a war, this is a change of nature, a change of style, a change of combatants perhaps even, but it is not the end.”
With the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the horizon, Tugendhat said the the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan was “the beginning of a new stage of chaos”.
He said: “Because the Taliban is not a single entity. and so nationally this is not over. This is only the beginning of a new stage of chaos.”
Former national security adviser Lord Sedwill said the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan was an act of “strategic self-harm” that will “fuel” terrorism worldwide.
The former Cabinet secretary, who served as an ambassador to Afghanistan, told an event in London: “The Taliban’s victory in Afghanistan will undoubtedly fuel extremism and terrorism worldwide, whether or not it is directed from there.
“So the security threats have undoubtedly gone up and of course the wider geopolitical consequences are obvious.”
The warnings came as Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab signalled that evacuations from Kabul airport may be able to resume “in the near future”.
After discussions in Qatar about evacuations out of Kabul airport, Raab told broadcasters: “I don’t think we’re yet able to say anything formal but that’s looking like it may happen at some point in the near future.”
Raab continued to insist the UK will not recognise the Taliban as the official Afghan government.
He told reporters at a press conference in Doha: “The reality is, as I have described, we will not be recognising the Taliban any time in the foreseeable future, but I think there is an important scope for engagement and dialogue and testing the intentions and indeed the assurances that have already been made by the Taliban.”
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He then listed the Taliban’s assurances: “Safe passage to those Afghan workers or contractors who are eligible and still want to come to the UK or indeed other countries, I think the commitments they have made not to allow Afghanistan to be a base or safe haven to terrorist groups, the environment for humanitarian workers, they have talked about forming a more inclusive government.”
“In all of these areas we will judge them by what they do, not just by what they say.”
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