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UK's Afghanistan withdrawal a disaster

The UK's withdrawal from Afghanistan last year was a "disaster" and a "betrayal" that will damage the nation's interests for years, an inquiry by MPs has found.

The Foreign Affairs Committee said there had been "systemic failures" of intelligence, diplomacy, and planning.

Chairman Tom Tugendhat said there had been a failure to lead "at a time when lives were quite literally being lost".

The UK government said "intensive planning" went into the withdrawal.

A spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) defended its handling of the withdrawal and said it would review and respond to the committee's findings.

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The cross-party MPs who carried out the inquiry said "mismanagement" of the evacuation as the Taliban quickly took over the country "likely cost lives".

They added they had lost confidence in the department's top civil servant, Sir Philip Barton, and urged him to consider his position.

The report said the fact Sir Philip, the then-Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab and Prime Minister Boris Johnson were all on leave when the Taliban took Afghanistan's capital, Kabul "marks a fundamental lack of seriousness, grip or leadership at a time of national emergency".

Media caption,
Tom Tugendhat : Some answers given to MPs over the UK leaving Afghanistan were "designed to put us off the mark".
Mr Tugendhat told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "It's a very clear criticism of the failure to plan, the failure to prepare, and the failure to lead at a moment of extraordinary national emergency, at a time when lives were quite literally being lost, at a time when every decision was fraught with risk, and highly contentious, and needed to be made very quickly by people who had the authority to do so."

The "fundamental failure" was one of leadership, the Conservative MP added.

Labour shadow foreign secretary David Lammy said the report "highlights the scale of the government's incompetence, laziness and mishandling" of the withdrawal.

"The Conservative government has badly let down Britain's reputation on the global stage and those responsible for this calamity should be held accountable," he said.

A coalition of international forces - led by the US - completed their withdrawal from Afghanistan on 30 August 2021, marking the end of the 20-year campaign in the Middle-Eastern country.

Media caption,
Watch Taliban celebrate after the the last American soldier leaves Afghanistan
US-led forces went into Afghanistan in 2001, removing the Taliban from power in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, which were blamed on al-Qaeda - a militant jihadist group.

The UK sent forces but ended its combat operations in 2014, leaving hundreds of troops to help train the Afghan government's army.

In February 2020, a withdrawal deal was signed by the Taliban and the US under former President Donald Trump and a year later his successor, Joe Biden, honoured the agreement.

As the US pulled out troops and reduced military support for the Afghan army, the Taliban made rapid territorial gains, reclaiming control of the whole country by mid-August.

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A reminder of the horror and shame
Analysis box by Pauli Adams, diplomatic correspondent
The report brings back the sense of horror and, for some, shame generated by last August's traumatic evacuation from Kabul.

It was always inevitable that ministers and senior officials were going to be lambasted. During the committee's hearings, MPs expressed their dismay that the Foreign Office's top civil servant hadn't seen fit to return from holiday until the civilian evacuation was over.

And it was clear that they found some of the answers they received evasive and unconvincing.

Some will argue that the speed of the Taliban's takeover of the country could not have been anticipated and made planning for such a complex evacuation impossible without causing widespread panic.

It's not an argument that cuts much ice with the MPs. They say there was plenty of time to make plans and that what happened was a betrayal that will haunt the UK's international reputation for years.

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UK's Afghanistan withdrawal a disaster

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