US, British and other international forces are leaving Afghanistan, ending their mission which began two decades ago with the intervention to overthrow the Taliban regime following the 9/11 attacks in New York.
The departure comes as Afghanistan faces an uncertain and dangerous future with lethal onslaughts by insurgents taking a rising daily toll of lives, and deep trepidation about the future, especially over the hard-won rights of women, if the Taliban take over once again.
A sense of panic has gripped the country, with those who can, fleeing abroad with their families. A major refugee crisis is feared in the region and beyond. Every day seem to bring news of advances by insurgents while government forces fall back to hold the major cities.
Senior Western military and intelligence officers warn that the withdrawl will allow extremists to use ungoverned space to plot and carry out attacks in the West, including on Britain. The latest to do so is Ken McCallum, the Director General of MI5.
But the decision that matters has been made by President Joe Biden who is determined to end America’s longest war. He had been against the “ surges” of US forces when he was Barack Obama’s Vice-President and has been a severe critic of the endemic corruption among the Afghan hierarchy.
Kim Sengupta, the Defence and Diplomatic Editor of The Independent, has been covering the Afghan conflict for more than 20 years. He has reported from there in 24 visits during that time and will be travelling there again soon.
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He will be available to answer your questions on the Afghanistan conflict and international forces leaving the country during a live Ask Me Anything event being held on Friday, 16 July at 1pm BST.
If you have a question, submit it now, or when Kim joins you live at 1pm on Friday. All you have to do is register to submit your question in the comments below.
If you’re not already a member, click “sign up” in the comments box to leave your question. Don’t worry if you can’t see your question – they may be hidden until the event begins at 1pm. Then join us live on this page at as Kim tackles as many questions as they can.
