Afghanistan: Soldiers flee to Tajikistan after militant clashes - BBC News

Reuters

More than 1,000 Afghan soldiers have fled to neighbouring Tajikistan after clashing with Taliban militants, officials have said.

The troops retreated over the border to "save their own lives", according to a statement by Tajikistan's border guard.

Violence has risen in Afghanistan and the Taliban have been making significant gains, particularly in the north of the country, in recent weeks.

The surge coincides with the end of Nato's 20-year military mission.

The vast majority of remaining foreign forces in Afghanistan have been withdrawn ahead of a September deadline, and there are concerns that the Afghan military will collapse.

Under a deal with the Taliban, the US and its Nato allies agreed to withdraw all troops in return for a commitment by the militants not to allow al-Qaeda or any other extremist group to operate in the areas they control.

• Who are the Taliban?
• How can the West fight terror after leaving?
• US troops must leave by deadline - Afghan Taliban

But the Taliban did not agree to stop fighting Afghan forces, and now reportedly control about a third of the country.

The retreat is the third time Afghan soldiers have fled to Tajikistan over the past three days and the fifth case over the past fortnight. In total, nearly 1,600 soldiers have crossed the border.

The latest group of Afghan troops sought refuge early on Monday morning after fighting with militants during the night, Tajikistan's National Security Committee said in a statement that was reported by the Tajik state-run news agency Khovar.

Badakhshan and Takhar provinces, which border Tajikistan, have seen a rapid Taliban advance, and the militants have now captured most of the territory. The group has also reportedly taken over at least one Afghan army checkpost on the border with Pakistan.

"The Taliban cut off all the roads and these people had nowhere to go but to cross the border," one senior Afghan official told Reuters on Monday.

Zabihullah Atiq, a parliamentarian from Badakhshan, said the troops had used various routes to flee.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani insists that the country's security forces are fully capable of keeping insurgents at bay, but there have also been reports of more soldiers seeking refuge in Pakistan and Uzbekistan to escape the fighting.

Neighbouring countries, including those in central Asia, are bracing themselves for a potential influx of refugees if the fighting continues to intensify.

Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen told the BBC the Taliban is not responsible for the recent increase in violence. He insisted that many districts had fallen to the Taliban through mediation after Afghan soldiers refused to fight.

For the people of Afghanistan, it is a worrying time, says Lyse Doucet, the BBC's chief international correspondent. The Taliban, who have been accused of various human rights and cultural abuses, support Islamic punishments - such as public executions of convicted murderers - as well as banning television, music and cinema, and disapproving of girls over 10 going to school.

"They are uncertain about where their country is heading, uncertain about their own village or town or city, and uncertain about their own lives and the futures of their families," she said.

There are also growing concerns about how to protect diplomatic missions in Afghanistan.

Russia on Monday announced that it had temporarily suspended operations at its consulate in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif because of the deteriorating security situation. Envoy Zamir Kabulov said Afghan troops had surrendered too many districts, making the situation unstable.

Turkey and Iran have also suspended operations in the city, moving diplomats to Kabul, according to reports.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to chair a National Security Council meeting to discuss the situation in the country.

US-led forces ousted the Taliban from power in Afghanistan in 2001. The group had been harbouring Osama Bin Laden and other al-Qaeda figures linked to the 9/11 attacks in the US that triggered the invasion. However, it has gradually regained enough strength to seize territory again.

The Taliban entered direct talks with the US back in 2018, and President Joe Biden has said the American pull-out is justified as US forces have made sure Afghanistan cannot become a base for foreign jihadists to plot against the West again.

However, former Afghan President Hamid Karzai told the BBC he believed the Nato and US military mission there had failed in defeating terrorism and extremism.

He called on both the Afghan government and the Taliban to "sit down and talk as soon as possible for peace".

Twenty years of conflict in Afghanistan – what happened when?

From 9/11, to intense fighting on the ground, and now full withdrawal of US-led forces, here’s what happened.

9/11

11 September 2001

Al-Qaeda, led by Osama Bin Laden in Afghanistan, carries out the largest terror attack ever conducted on US soil.

Four commercial airliners are hijacked. Two are flown into the World Trade Centre in New York, which collapses. One hits the Pentagon building in Washington, and one crashes into a field in Pennsylvania. Nearly 3,000 people are killed.

First air strikes

7 October 2001

A US-led coalition bombs Taliban and al-Qaeda facilities in Afghanistan. Targets include Kabul, Kandahar and Jalalabad. The Taliban refuse to hand over Bin Laden. Their air defences and small fleet of fighter aircraft are destroyed.

Fall of Kabul

13 November 2001

The Northern Alliance, a group of anti-Taliban rebels backed by coalition forces, enters Kabul as the Taliban flee the city.

By the 13 November 2001, all Taliban have either fled or been neutralised. Other cities quickly fall.

New constitution

26 January 2004

After protracted negotiations at a “loya jirga” or grand assembly, the new Afghan constitution is signed into law. The constitution paves the way for presidential elections in October 2004.

Hamid Karzai becomes president

7 December 2004

Hamid Karzai, the leader of the Popalzai Durrani tribe, becomes the first president under the new constitution. He serves two five-year terms as president.

UK troops deployed to Helmand

May 2006

British troops arrive in Helmand province, a Taliban stronghold in the south of the country.

Their initial mission is to support reconstruction projects, but they are quickly drawn into combat operations. More than 450 British troops lose their lives in Afghanistan over the course of the conflict.

Obama’s surge

17 February 2009

US President Barack Obama approves a major increase in the number of troops sent to Afghanistan. At their peak, they number about 140,000.

The so-called “surge” is modelled on US strategy in Iraq where US forces focussed on protecting the civilian population as well as killing insurgent fighters.

Osama Bin Laden killed

2 May 2011

The leader of al-Qaeda is killed in an assault by US Navy Seals on a compound in Abbottabad in Pakistan. Bin Laden’s body is removed and buried at sea. The operation ends a 10-year hunt led by the CIA.  The confirmation that Bin Laden had been living on Pakistani soil fuels accusations in the US that Pakistan is an unreliable ally in the war on terror.

Death of Mullah Omar

23 April 2013

The founder of the Taliban, Mullah Mohammed Omar, dies. His death is kept secret for more than two years.

According to Afghan intelligence, Mullah Omar dies of health problems at a hospital in the Pakistani city of Karachi. Pakistan denies that he was in the country.

Nato ends combat operations

28 December 2014

At a ceremony in Kabul, Nato ends its combat operations in Afghanistan. With the surge now over, the US withdraws thousands of troops.  Most of those who remain focus on training and supporting the Afghan security forces.

Taliban resurgence

2015

The Taliban launch a series of suicide attacks, car bombings and other assaults. The parliament building in Kabul, and the city of Kunduz are attacked. Islamic State militants begin operations in Afghanistan.

Death toll announcement

25 January 2019

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani says more than 45,000 members of his country’s security forces have been killed since he became leader in 2014. The figure is far higher than previously thought.

US signs deal with Taliban

29 February 2020

The US and the Taliban sign an “agreement for bringing peace” to Afghanistan, in Doha, Qatar. The US and Nato allies agree to withdraw all troops within 14 months if the militants uphold the deal.

Date for final withdrawal

11 September 2021

US forces are scheduled to withdraw from Afghanistan by 11 September 2021, exactly 20 years since 9/11. There are strong indications that the withdrawal may be complete before the official deadline.

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2021-07-05 14:36:36Z
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Latest medical update: Pope Francis continues to recover - Vatican News

Pope Francis is doing well and is alert, according to a statement released by the director of the Holy See Press Office, Matteo Bruni, in the latest medical bulletin released regarding the surgery the Pope underwent on Sunday evening. 

Matteo Bruni said in his statement that Pope Francis is doing well overall, alert and breathing on his own. He said a hemicolectomy on the left side took place during the surgery, which lasted around three hours. He added that the Pope will remain at Gemelli hospital for seven days, barring any complications.

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2021-07-05 10:25:18Z
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Collapsed Miami apartment block demolished as tropical storm approaches - BBC News - BBC News

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2021-07-05 12:45:00Z
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Afghan forces plan counterattack against Taliban in north: Report - Al Jazeera English

Counteroffensive planned after forces lose ground in northern provinces, Russia’s RIA agency cites President Ghani’s adviser as saying.

Afghanistan government forces are planning a counteroffensive in the country’s northern provinces after losing ground to the Taliban, Russia’s RIA news agency has cited an adviser to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani as saying.

National security adviser Hamdullah Mohib told RIA in an interview on Monday that government forces had not expected the Taliban offensive but would “absolutely, definitely” counterattack.

The Taliban’s march through northern Afghanistan gained momentum overnight with the capture of several districts from fleeing Afghan forces, several hundred of whom fled across the border into neighbouring Tajikistan, officials said.

On Monday, Tajikistan’s national security committee said 1,037 Afghan government troops had fled into the ex-Soviet country “in order to save their lives” after clashes with the Taliban during the night.

“Taking into account the principle of good neighbourliness and adhering to the position of non-interference in the internal affairs of Afghanistan, the military personnel of the Afghan government forces were allowed to enter Tajik territory,” the committee said in a statement distributed by Tajikistan’s state information agency Khovar.

It said the Taliban has taken “full control” of six districts of the Badakhshan province bordering Tajikistan in Afghanistan’s northeast.

The Taliban now control roughly a third of all 421 districts and district centers in Afghanistan.

The group’s most significant gains have been in the northern half of the country, a traditional stronghold of the US-allied warlords who helped defeat them in 2001.

Several hundred Afghan troops had already crossed into Tajikistan after the Taliban unleashed its onslaught in early May.

The fighters have seized dozens of Afghanistan’s districts, raising fears that the Afghan military will collapse once US and international troops complete their withdrawal from the country in September.

US President Joe Biden has ordered the departure of all US forces from Afghanistan by this year’s 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks that triggered the invasion.

Abandoned and empty, families have been forced to flee Kandahar after fierce fighting between the Afghan government forces and the Taliban began, with many Afghans concerned over the security situation once US forces leave.

“There is no peace. If one helicopter came here, it will be enough for all of Kandahar. Why don’t they use helicopters against them? If they kill me, then who would look after my children?” a resident in Kandahar’s Panjwayi told Al Jazeera.

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2021-07-05 09:18:13Z
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Engineers fear collapsed Miami condo may have lacked reinforced steel - Daily Mail

Engineers fear collapsed Miami condo may have been built using less reinforced steel than plans called for - as hunt for 121 still missing is paused amid preparation to demolish surviving with with explosives

• Inspectors identified the issue at critical places in the base of 13-story building
• Concerns there were fewer steel reinforcing rods than there should have been
• Comes as mayor insisted rescuers still hoped to find residents alive in the rubble 

By Jennifer Smith and Rory Tingle For Dailymail.com

Published: 20:59 BST, 4 July 2021 | Updated: 22:26 BST, 4 July 2021

Engineers believe a Miami condo that collapsed killing at least 24 residents may have been built using less reinforced steel than the plans called for - as officials planned to blow up the remaining wing with 121 people still missing. 

Inspectors identified the issue at critical places in the base of the building in the first details about possible issues in the quality of construction at the 13-story Champlain Towers South in Surfside. 

Forensic engineering expert Allyn E. Kilsheimer confirmed there were signs that the amount of steel used to connect concrete slabs below a parking deck to the building's vertical columns may have been less than specified in the original drawings. 

Inspectors identified the issue at critical places in the base of the building in the first details about possible issues in the quality of construction at the 13-story Champlain Towers South in Surfside (pictured) 

Family members hold vigil for the missing victims of the collapse, which horrified the country 

'The bars might not be arranged like the original drawings call for,' Mr Kilsheimer told the New York Times. 

He said the investigation was in its early stages, and he needed to examine the site further to confirm his theory. It remains unclear if this suspected steel deficiency may have led to the building's collapse, amid multiple claims there were also issued with flooding, which corroded the building's concrete structure. 

R. Shankar Nair, a member of the National Academy of Engineering, also noticed inconsistencies between the design and the steel that remained visible in the columns.

Engineers pointed to three damaged columns in a western section of the building that remains intact, which were part of an exterior deck that served as a ground-level parking area. 

These were meant to be connected to horizontal slabs embedded with eight rods of reinforcing steel, yet by counting the ones left in the rubble they appear to be fewer in number.  

The death toll from the disaster currently sits at 24, and is likely to stay that way for some time. Recovery operations have been paused while demolition experts prepare to bring down the remaining wing of the condo building with explosives, amid fears Tropical Storm Elsa could demolish it. 

Engineers are working to ensure the condemned wing collapses in on itself, and not on top of the existing recovery site, with Mayor of Surfside Charles Burkett insisting people could still be pulled alive from its rubble.   

Asked on Sunday whether he was pursuing a 'search and rescue, not a recovery effort', Burkett said: 'It's absolutely not a recovery effort. I constantly am telling people about the BBC documentary, which outlines survivability after a building collapse, where they pulled a lady in Bangladesh out after 17 days. 

'So we're not even near that. And, you know, there's nobody- nobody in charge really talking about stopping this rescue effort. 

'And this rescue effort, as far as I'm concerned, will go on until everybody's pulled out of that debris.'

This graphic shows how most of Champlain Towers South collapsed on Thursday June 24. The surviving wing will be demolished in the coming days amid fears over its stability 

Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava issued a State of Emergency Saturday for Tropical Storm Elsa and made the 'dramatic decision' to sign an emergency order to raze the building before the storm hits the area Monday afternoon. 

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told a press conference that they wouldn't let people who escaped go back and get their possessions before the demolition. 

'At the end of the day, that building is too unsafe to let people go back in,' DeSantis said. 'I know there's a lot of people who were able to get out, fortunately, who have things there. We're very sensitive to that. But I don't think that there's any way you could let someone go back up into that building given the shape that it's in now.'

The Miami Herald reported that some pets are still missing, including a cat called Coco who lived on the fourth floor. A search of the surviving wing did not uncover any pets - although searchers were unable to enter intact apartments to get a proper look. 

Meanwhile, multiple reports have emerged of warnings made by engineers and officials over the 12-story tower's declining condition in the weeks, months and years before its collapse.  

It recently emerged that one of the tower's managers sent an email to complaining city officials were delaying urgent repairs just days before the 13-story structure collapsed. 

The condo was set to undergo extensive repairs as part of a 40-year safety recertification due this year, and it appears the complex's management team were eager to have the work done as soon as possible.    

Back in 2018, they hired Frank Morabito Consultants to inspect the complex ahead of the recertification process. 

A report from the company raised concerns about the pool deck area, in which the waterproofing was failing, and the underground parking garage which was riddled with 'abundant' cracking.  They quoted $16 million dollars worth of repair work, according to the Miami Herald. 

Morabito's firm also completed a survey in October 2020, in which they spoke of 'curious results' after taking samples from the building. Further information on what exactly those results were has not yet been shared.  

By April 2021, the complex had reportedly deteriorated further, with condo board president Jean Wodnicki writing to the building's owners, stating: 'We have discussed, debated and argued for years now.... indeed the observable damage such as in the garage has gotten significantly worse since the initial inspection.'

On May 13 - just six weeks before the condo collapsed - Frank Morabito and condo management finally met with officials from the Surfside Building Department to discuss  the proposed repair work. 

A manager at Miami's Champlain Towers condo complex sent an email complaining city officials were delaying urgent repairs just days before the 13-story structure collapsed

Back in 2018, they hired Frank Morabito Consultants to inspect the complex ahead of the recertification process. A report from the company raised concerns about the pool deck area, in which the waterproofing was failing, and the underground parking garage which was riddled with 'abundant' cracking. They reportedly quoted $16 million dollars worth of repair work

The Miami Herald reports that the condo managers had tried for a week to set up that meeting. 

Afterwards, Morabito sent off an e-mail to the department saying, in part: 'We respectfully request that we hear from the Town in the near future so we can make any necessary revisions to our contract drawings.'

However, there was no response for more than a month. 

That silence prompted Scott Stewart, the condo's building manager, to write to James McGuinness, the director of the Surfside building department, on June 21. 

'As we are out to bid on our project [we] need to get to answers to these questions... This is holding us up and costs are going up and out 40 year is coming up fast,' Stewart wrote. 

On June 23 - just one day before the condo collapsed - McGuinness replied, saying he needed more information about a temporary parking lot which would need to be set up for workers who would do the repairs. 

He said he wanted details on the parking lot in order to 'prevent the site from becoming a dust bowl or a mud bowl.' 

On the same day, McGuinness allegedly went to the top of the roof of the Chamberlain Towers condo complex to inspect it. 

He later told investigators: 'There was no inordinate amount of equipment or materials or anything on the roof that caught my building official's eye that would make me alarmed as to this place collapsing'.

DailyMail.com has reached out to McGuinness and the Surfside Building Department for comment. 

Slides from the 2018 report are pictured above 

Frank Morabito of Frank Morabito Consulants is pictured at left. He completed an initial inspection of the building back in 2018 and flagged various problems. He was eager to conduct repairs, which were seemingly being delayed by local officials. Surfside Building Department Director James McGuinness is pictured at right

Meanwhile, rescuers are now facing another challenge - COVID.  

So far, six members of one of the Florida rescue teams tested positive, Miami-Dade Fire Chief Alan Cominsky said, and the team was removed from the site. 

More than 420 other Florida search and rescue crew members were tested and all came back negative, Cominsky said Saturday. 

In terms of the demolition, officials were told Friday evening that it would take weeks to safely tear down the remaining structure, but Cava said Saturday morning that the Maryland-based demolition company Controlled Demolition Inc. came forward last night. 

Controlled Demolition Inc. says on its website that it has demolished 'thousands of structures across six continents using explosives.' 

Cava said they work fast, their engineers have studied the scene Saturday and said they could demolish the building before the storm impacts Southeast Florida. 

Meteorologists predict the eye of the storm, which was downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm, won't directly hit the area, but Surfside and the surrounding municipalities could feel the brunt of strong wind gusts.   

Rescue crews continue to sift through debris of the collapsed Florida condo 

Officials fear those gusts would knock down the remaining structure 'in a direction we don't want it to go,' Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett said.   

Before the Saturday morning press conference, DeSantis and his wife Casey visited the makeshift memorial near the fallen building. 

They placed flags in the memorial and paid their respects to the victims. 

'This was a tragedy like we've never seen because you just don't expect a building to fall,' DeSantis said during Saturday's press conference.  

A follow-up meeting will be held in the afternoon to finalize details of the demolition, which could be a precarious operation as experts enter the building to bore into the structure to install explosives. 

Fire Rescue Assistant Fire Chief Raide Jadallah said the remnants of the demolished building would be removed immediately after with the intent of giving rescuers access for the first time to the garage area that is the focus of the search. 

Currently, rescuers can't go above the first floor because the building is so unstable, Cominsky said. 

Read more:

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2021-07-04 19:59:47Z
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Miami building collapse: Search efforts suspended ahead of demolition - BBC News

Reuters

Search efforts for possible survivors in the rubble of a partially collapsed apartment block near Miami have been suspended ahead of the controlled demolition of the rest of the building.

Teams are set to start bringing down the remaining structure late on Sunday.

The demolition of Champlain Towers South was brought forward over safety fears due to an approaching storm.

Part of the 12-storey block collapsed on 24 June. Twenty-four people are known to have died and 121 are missing.

No survivors have been pulled from the rubble at the site in Surfside since the first few hours after the structure's collapse.

The families of the missing were told in advance of the decision to pause the search effort, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Cava Levine said.

• What we know about the victims of the collapse
• What could have caused the disaster?
• A boom, then the ground shook

On Sunday, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Assistant Chief Ray Jadallah said at a briefing that the demolition would happen late on Sunday night, the Miami Herald reported, although no exact time has been set.

Mr Jadallah said small holes were being drilled into the foundation of the building before explosive charges are placed.

Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said there were no plans to evacuate any other buildings for the demolition.

"We encourage you to close all of the windows and the doors and all air intakes, and to cover all other openings that may allow dust to enter," she said.

The decision to bring forward the demolition was made after concerns were raised over the approaching Tropical Storm Elsa, which is expected to reach Florida on Tuesday.

The mayor of Surfside, Charles Burkett, said strong winds in the coming days could bring down additional debris from the unstable structure, endangering the lives of the search teams.

"It was obvious that the building was a problem," he said on Saturday, adding: "We agreed that the only solution for that problem was to eliminate it."

Announcing the temporary pause in the search operation, Ms Cava Levine said the latest developments did not mean an end to the rescue effort.

"We will begin the search and rescue once again on any sections of the pile that are safe to access as soon as we're cleared," she said.

Drones and 3D imaging equipment are being brought in to help those combing the rubble for signs of life.

The mayor signed a demolition order on Friday. There are no details about compensating the owners of the apartments affected.

Reuters

Meanwhile, officials are investigating other tower blocks in the area for structural faults.

What caused the 40-year-old Champlain Towers South to crumble remains unclear. A 2018 inspection, however, warned of "major" design flaws in the original design.

The building association's board has said it will appoint an "independent receiver... to oversee the legal and claims process".

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2021-07-04 18:25:28Z
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Terror threat to Britain will grow if West neglects Afghanistan, previous boss of MI6 warns - Sky News

The threat to the UK from terrorist groups like al Qaeda will grow if allies turn their back on Afghanistan after troops withdraw, Sir Alex Younger, the previous head of MI6, has warned.

The former spy chief said it would be an "enormous mistake" to neglect the country as happened back in 1989 when a previous intervention by the then Soviet Union ended.

Sir Alex, a veteran of the fight against terrorism following the 11 September attacks on America in 2001, predicted the most likely outcome for Afghanistan now is civil war between a resurgent Taliban and the US and UK-backed Afghan government.

Image: The US-led campaign has cost trillions of dollars, with tens of thousands of people killed, the majority of them Afghans

Image: Civil war is now the most likely outcome in Afghanistan, predicts the former spy chief

In his first-ever television interview, he also revealed:

• He was "very worried" Russia could exploit the crisis in Afghanistan to harm the UK and its allies
• His frustration at a failure by the international community to meet an ambition to rebuild the Afghan state, saying the goal turned out to be "unrealistic"
• And regret at a US decision under Donald Trump to set an exit date for US troops rather than use the promise of withdrawal better as leverage over the Taliban

Sir Alex, 57, who retired as chief of the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) last September, gave his thoughts on Afghanistan as a 20-year intervention by the US, Britain and other NATO allies ends.

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He recalled what they had discovered when they invaded in 2001 to hunt then al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and oust the Taliban regime that had accommodated him.

"It was a level of terrorist infrastructure that could only have been imagined before we got there - training camps that would have been not out of place in a sort of conventional military or special forces barracks," the career intelligence officer said.

More on Afghanistan

The terrorist threat was able to evolve in Afghanistan in the chaotic years that followed the end of the Soviet invasion.

Image: The terrorist threat was able to evolve following the end of the Soviet invasion, says Sir Alex. Pic: AP

Image: The departure of Russian troops was a 'significant date'. Pic: AP

"I've talked about the significance of the date of 9/11, 2001. I think the other, very significant date is 16 February 1989, which is when the Russians left Afghanistan.

"What the West then did is turn their back on that country with all of the consequences that I've laid out.

"And I think, for the reasons that you're talking about, it would be an enormous mistake for us to do that again," Sir Alex said.

"The reality is that there are groups there, we've been very successful in disrupting both Daesh (Islamic State) and al Qaeda.

"They're on the back foot. But it would be wrong, patently, to claim that they have gone away. And they have the capacity to regenerate."

The US-led invasion and the so-called "war on terror" inflicted significant harm on al Qaeda, taking away the group's training camps and killing or capturing top commanders, including Bin Laden who died in a US raid in neighbouring Pakistan in 2011.

Image: Osama Bin Laden was killed in a US raid in Pakistan in 2011

But a United Nations report published in June said up to 500 al Qaeda fighters were thought to be in Afghanistan.

Islamic State has also emerged inside the country in recent years.

Militants linked to that group number about 2,000 but they appear to be in small, decentralised cells.

Sir Alex said: "We are going to have to think very carefully in the absence of troops on the ground about how we deal with that.

"It's vital that we don't make the mistakes that we made last time around."

Asked what the consequences would be if the West did turn its back again, he replied: "I think if terrorist groups are allowed to regenerate somewhere like Afghanistan, it will lead to more threat on the shores of our country and our allies."

Image: Sir Alex Younger is a veteran of the fight against terrorism

Image: The former intelligence officer has warned of the risks faced following the military withdrawal

He tempered this warning by noting that the Taliban had learnt it would be made to suffer if the group again allowed their territory to be used as a launchpad for international terrorism.

"It seems to me that they will feel the restraint from the example posed by history," the former spymaster said, before adding: "But there is a perfectly cordial relationship between al Qaeda and the Taliban.

"And I question whether they will be able to assert, should they gain control of Afghanistan, the sort of control that we would need, even if they wanted to."

Sir Alex said he believed the US-led intervention had been a success in combatting the terrorist threat in Afghanistan and had helped to make the streets of the UK safer.

But he said there can never be a purely military solution to a terrorist problem.

It also requires a political effort to create alternative options other than violence.

In Afghanistan, well-meaning ambitions to turn the country into a thriving democracy ultimately failed to deliver.

"With hindsight, the aspiration to build a nation was not supported by a political plan and was in the event unrealistic," Sir Alex said.

He continued: "I am frustrated by the way in which we have failed - we the international community have failed - to match our ambitions with a proper political plan."

He said efforts to negotiate with the Taliban should have started sooner.

Image: Sir Alex believes the Afghanistan operation had helped make the streets of the UK safer

The former intelligence officer said he regretted how, when negotiations with the Taliban were opened, the previous Trump administration last year announced a date for the US exit, rather than use the prospect of leaving to exert greater pressure.

"I think ideally we would have kept that in reserve and made a withdrawal conditional on … the Taliban engaging in the (Afghan) political process more actively than they have," he said.

Sir Alex offered three scenarios for Afghanistan: Some kind of compromise between the Afghan government and the Taliban; a full Taliban takeover; "and then the third is essentially civil war… and it seems to me that that probably is where we are headed".

Asked whether he was worried that Russia might seek to exploit the security crisis to inflict further harm on the West, he said: "I'm very worried about it."

The UK and the US suspected Moscow of supporting the Taliban when the militants were fighting US and British troops in Afghanistan.

There have also been reports that a unit within Russia's military intelligence agency, the GRU, offered bounties to the Taliban to kill NATO forces.

Russia has denied these allegations.

The US-led campaign in Afghanistan cost trillions of dollars, with tens of thousands of people killed, the majority of them Afghans.

Asked why what happens in Afghanistan matters to the UK, Sir Alex said: "I am proud of what we have done there when I look at the situation that existed in 2001, when I look at the extent of the terrorist infrastructure and when I consider the damage that could and would have been done if we had allowed that to continue.

"But I'm also very thoughtful about what we have learnt.

"What we have learnt is that whilst the initial solution is military and security and about disrupting these groups, the solution has to be political… I've learnt: the idea that we can create a democracy in our image in a country like that is out of reach."

Image: Sir Alex was at MI6's London HQ on the day of the 9/11 attacks in the US

Image: He remembered thinking the MI6 building could be targeted

Sir Alex, then a more junior spy, was at MI6's London headquarters on 11 September 2001 when news broke of civilian planes hitting the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington.

A fourth plane came down in a field in Pennsylvania.

"I remember thinking: Is this going to happen here? And if it does, this building will be the obvious place to do it. It's the iconic secret building in the UK," he said.

"The uncertainty was extraordinary."

He added: "I knew that this was the thing that was going to define the rest of my career. And that is exactly as it turned out."

:: Special coverage of events - Afghanistan: Endgame - is being shown throughout Sunday night and Monday on Sky News.
An Afghanistan Special with Mark Austin will be broadcast at 7pm on Monday.

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2021-07-04 16:08:13Z
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