Inside Politics: Calls for UK to support Afghans as Taliban seizes power

MPs say UK has a moral duty to support Afghan citizens as extremist group prepares to form new regime, writes Matt Mathers

(Associated Press)

Afghan citizens are waking up to a new world this morning after the Taliban took Kabul, seizing control of the country. There have been chaotic scenes at the capital city’s airport as people attempt to flee. Boris Johnson is coming under increasing pressure to set out what support the UK will offer all those who remain and US President Joe Biden is facing a major backlash over his decision to go ahead with troop withdrawal.

Inside the bubble

The fast moving and chaotic situation in Afghanistan dominates the news agenda today. Parliament is being recalled on Wednesday. Defence secretary Ben Wallace is on the broadcast round this morning.

Coming up shortly:

-Former US national security adviser HR McMaster on Times Radio Breakfast at 8.00am

-Defence secretary Ben Wallace on BBC Radio 4 Today at 8.10am

Daily Briefing

KABUL FALLS: The Taliban has taken Kabul and seized control of Afghanistan some 20 years after the group was overthrown by British and US forces. “The war is over,” a Taliban spokesman, Mohammad Naeem, said. “We have reached what we were seeking, which is the freedom of our country and the independence of our people.” The speed at which the militants took over has stunned security experts. Last week it had been predicted that Kabul could hold for another 30 days. In the end, Taliban fighters met no resistance as they entered the capital city.

MAJOR FALL OUT: Sunday’s events have sent major shockwaves through London and Washington, where President Biden is coming under sustained criticism for his decision to press ahead with pulling soldiers out of Afghanistan, despite prior warnings that the result would likely be a Taliban resurgence. Parliament will be recalled on Wednesday for a debate and speaking after an emergency meeting, prime minister Boris Johnson said the US decision to pull out has “accelerated things” as he called on Western nations not to “prematurely recognise” the new regime.MPs on both sides of the house are angry. Tory MP Tobias Ellwood, who called for the recall, wrote on Twitter: “I now encourage ALL my colleagues to make it clear to the PM that abandoning Afghanistan is the wrong decision.” Shadow foreign secretary Lisa Nandy said the tragedy unfolding is not “inevitable” and we are not “powerless”.

PRESIDENT FLEES: Amid yesterday’s chaos Ashraf Ghani, the Afghan president, fled his palace as the Taliban encroached on Kabul. “To avoid bloodshed, I thought it would be better to leave,” he wrote on Facebook after escaping. It is unclear where exactly he travelled to, with conflicting reports he had flown to Tajikistan or Uzbekistan, although the president’s office said it “cannot say anything about Ashraf Ghani’s movement for security reasons”. Taliban fighters were later pictured inside the presidential palace, with a representative for the militant group saying they were checking on his location.

AIRPORT CHAOS: There were chaotic scenes at Kabul airport, where thousands of Afghans crowded onto the tarmac in a desperate scramble to get on planes and escape. Early morning reports suggest US troops have fired shots into the air in a bid to create some order. Both remaining US personnel and Afghans were seen climbing onto military aircraft. Chinook helicopters had shuttled back and forth between the US embassy and airport all weekend to remove remaining staff. “Several hundred civilians including personnel and private US citizens have been evacuated so far. We continue to build capacity to expedite processing for at-risk Afghan civilians. We are especially grateful for Canada’s generous offer to host 20,000 Afghans at-risk,” a Pentagon spokesperson told The Independent.

‘DREAMS COLLAPSE’: Adverts of women wearing wedding dresses appear to have been painted over in Kabul after Taliban fighters entered Kabul, amid fears that it will be girls and women who suffer most under the new regime. In images posted on social media, a man could be seen using a roller and white paint to cover up the large images outside a building. The incident comes despite a Taliban spokesperson’s claim the militant group “will respect rights of women” when it takes control of Afghanistan. Scores of Afghan women took to social media to appeal for help and express their frustration. “With every city collapsing, human bodies collapse, dreams collapse, history and future collapse, art and culture collapse, life and beauty collapse, our world collapses,” Rada Akbar wrote on Twitter. “Someone please stop this.”

On the record

“We want a united position amongst all the like-minded, as far as we can get one, so that we do whatever we can to prevent Afghanistan lapsing back into being a breeding ground for terror.”

Johnson on Taliban taking control of Afghanistan.

From the Twitterati

“The disaster in Afghanistan completes, with Iraq, the set of post 9/11 disasters. Twenty years on, the consequences of the Al Qaeda attacks on the US, and of America’s response, continue to reverberate.”

BBC Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen on latest disaster for Afghanistan.

Essential reading

• Patrick Cockburn, The Independent: Do a deal with the Taliban or flee – that is now the choice facing Afghans
• Borzou Daragahi, The Independent: The latest incarnation of the Taliban may be even more brutal and unscrupulous
• Kate Green The Independent, This year’s GCSE results remind us that inequality is rife under the Tories
• Nesrine Malik, The Guardian: Vaccine hesitancy is a symptom of people’s broken relationship with the state