EU's Borrell brands Afghanistan events 'a catastrophe and a nightmare'

FILE PHOTO: European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell speaks at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon June 19, 2021. Dalati Nohra/Handout via REUTERS

The European Union's foreign policy chief branded developments in Afghanistan "a catastrophe and a nightmare" on Thursday, and said there had been a failure of intelligence to anticipate the Taliban's return to power there.

Josep Borrell told the European Parliament that a first group of 106 members of the EU staff in Afghanistan had been airlifted from the country and had arrived in Madrid, Spain.

(Reporting by John Chalmers)