‘Open and honest’ review of UK Afghanistan involvement required, say MPs

Report from cross-party Commons Defence Committee criticises chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021

The government should hold an “open, honest and detailed review” of the UK’s involvement in Afghanistan from 2001 until the chaotic evacuation in 2021, MPs have said.

The 30-page report from the cross-party Commons Defence Committee also calls on the government to set out what action it is taking to ensure safe passage to the UK for several thousand Afghans still eligible for evacuation.

Committee chairman Tobias Ellwood called the withdrawal, which came as Kabul fell to the Taliban and prompted much criticism of the British response, a “dark chapter in UK military history”.