Taliban forces tightened their grip on Afghanistan today, taking the country to the brink of civil war.
Islamic State have killed Taliban figures in the north as their advance on Kabul raged on.
It came amid claims the Taliban have struck a deal with the Kabul government and President Ashraf Ghani is quitting.
A source told the Mirror: “The Taliban could be in government within days, even less, and Ghani is likely to be gone over the weekend. He is likely to flee with his family if he has not already.”
IS have killed Taliban in Khost in the north, while allies of al-Qaeda are growing in the west and east.
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Today Prime Minister Boris Johnson held a COBRA meeting over the crisis.
A “secret deal”, according to sources, will allow the British and US evacuation to continue unscathed – although UK military sources are sceptical.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace admitted Afghanistan could revert to being an al-Qaeda haven.
He said: “I’m worried, it is why I said I felt this was not the right time or decision to make because al-Qaeda will probably come back, certainly would like that type of breeding ground.
“Failed states lead to instability, lead to a security threat to us and our interests.”
Asked if British troops could return he said: “I’m going to leave every option open. If the Taliban have a message from last time, you start hosting al-Qaeda, you start attacking the West or countries like that, we could be back.”
He stressed he had criticised the Trump negotiations with the Taliban on a withdrawal, saying Britain had no choice but to follow.
He added: “The way we’d gone in meant we had to leave as well.” Militants control as much as 65% of Afghanistan, often sending western-trained local forces fleeing for their lives.
Sources said IS in the Khorasan, the 5,000-strong local IS group, have picked off a growing number of Taliban in Khost.
The ISK assassinations came as the Taliban overran the country’s second city of Kandahar, widely considered their birthplace, and also the key city of Herat.
But it is believed any peace deal for the Taliban to enter Kabul without violence means the withdrawal of British, US and other citizens will be allowed peacefully.
A source said: “The situation is moving at pace but ISK have thrown confusion into Taliban ranks by assassinating figures in Khost.
“While this will do little in the short term to hold back the Taliban advance on Kabul it is a very strong indication that civil war is becoming inevitable.
“These groups, plus warlord factions, are launching land grabs as they know the Taliban have seized momentum. ISK fighters are well-funded and have coaxed some Taliban to defect.”
The source said the Taliban are feared to have sleeper cells in Kabul, who are prepared to launch bomb attacks co-ordinated with a ground advance if a deal is broken.
Afghanistan expert Rory Stewart, an ex-international development secretary, said “we’re going to end up with terrorists” from Taliban regaining their grip.
“They’ve been backing suicide bombing in areas they control, women are not going to school and it is a total betrayal by the US and the UK,” he said.
Around 3,000 US troops and 600 from the UK’s 16th Air Assault Brigade are preparing to enter Kabul to protect expats, embassy staff and Afghan loyalists as they withdraw.
Any deal struck with the Taliban is said to include allowing embassies to leave peacefully. But one British military source warned: “If a peace deal has been struck, what is crucial is whether Taliban local commanders honour it.
“There have been executions in Kandahar despite the leadership of the Taliban calling for restraint.”
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Herat provincial council member Ghulam Habib said: “The city looks like a front line, a ghost town. Families have left or are hiding in their homes.”
UN World Food Programme’s Thomson Phiri fears for a “larger tide of hunger”, saying: “This has the hallmarks of a humanitarian catastrophe.”
The Taliban could isolate Kabul within 30 days and take it over in 90, US intelligence assessments concluded this week. The UN has said the Taliban reaching Kabul would have a “catastrophic impact on civilians”.
The militants, fighting to impose their strict version of Islamic rule, have taken control of 14 major cities in days.
Their onslaught followed the US-led troop withdrawal after 20 years.
Around 400,000 civilians have been forced from their homes this year.
The mess sparked fury among British war veterans today.
Ex-Para Ben Parkinson, who suffered horrific injuries in Afghanistan in 2006, said: “For the people who lost their sons, it really is such a shame.”
Army veteran and MP Dan Jarvis said: “We are left wondering whether it was worth it, and it doesn’t feel like it was.”
Mr Johnson paid tribute to British troops, adding he “shared the sorrow of all families who’ve lost loved ones”, but stressing: “I do believe it was not in vain.”
