SAS in dramatic desert raid to save troops from Taliban

Posted By Ruth King on August 23rd, 2021

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9917109/SAS-dramatic-desert-raid-save-troops-Taliban.html

How elite SAS troops launched dramatic operation to save 20 comrades trapped by advancing Taliban hordes as Kandahar fell – landing a Hercules plane on the desert floor in pitch darkness in ‘textbook’ raid

• Around 20 SAS men who were surrounded by Taliban have been rescued from the Afghan desert by comrades
• The group who were in Kandahar province sent an SOS to commanders as the area fell to Taliban control
• Military commanders hatched a daring plan to extricate the stranded troops by landing a plane in the desert
• Sources describe the astonishing raid – which utilised a makeshift airstrip in pitch darkness – as ‘textbook’

 

A team of Special Air Service soldiers who were surrounded by Taliban hordes in Kandahar have been rescued in a dramatic desert operation.

Around 20 elite SAS troops were left stranded in the province hundreds of miles from friendly forces when the militants took over.

As enemy fighters closed in they sent an SOS request to Special Forces bosses back in Britain calling for immediate extraction.

But they could not use Kandahar airfield – once home to 26,000 international troops at the height of the military campaign – because it had already been overrun by Taliban. So the SAS soldiers fought their way to a secret desert location where they went into hiding. The coordinates of the location were then relayed back to Special Forces headquarters in a series of coded messages.

Members of the Taliban patrol in Kandahar in Afghanistan earlier today. The city fell to the Taliban just over a week ago

Meanwhile, RAF chiefs planning the evacuation of British nationals and entitled Afghans from Kabul airport, had to find a transport aircraft capable of landing and taking off again in the desert.

On Wednesday night online flight trackers picked up a UK Hercules transport aircraft flying over the Gulf, until it turned off its Identification Friend or Foe sensors. This ensured flight radars could not follow its route towards the area of desert scrub which SAS troops had identified as a possible landing strip.

The aircraft, from the RAF’s Special Forces wing, made a dramatic landing in the dead of night with the crew wearing digital night-vision goggles.

A source said: ‘It was a very hush, hush mission. Kandahar had fallen to the Taliban on Friday and the guys were down there for five days after that. The enemy were rampant and killing a lot of Afghan Special Forces whom the SAS had been working with. So it was a very urgent mission.

US and British forces work hands in hands at Kabul airport

Evacuations have been underway in Afghanistan since the Taliban took control of the country on August 13 after American troops were pulled from the country

‘Credit to the Hercules crew from 47 Squadron for landing the aircraft at night on rough terrain and getting her airborne again with the guys and their equipment aboard. It was textbook.’

The aircraft reappeared on Thursday morning on flight trackers as it approached an international military base in Dubai.

Frustratingly for SAS chiefs the C-130J which rescued their troops is due to be retired as part of the latest reorganisation of the RAF.

The Hercules is the RAF’s major tactical transport aircraft and in its current versions, has been the backbone of UK operational mobility since it was brought into service in 1999. Praised as ‘highly flexible’ by the RAF, it has the ability to airdrop a variety of both stores and paratroopers, while landing and taking off from natural surfaces, such as a desert strip.

A US Navy corpsman hands out water to children during an evacuation at the airport in Kabul

A US Airman embraces a mother after she helped to reunite their family at the airport in Kabul

A US Airman high fives a child after helping to reunite their family at the airport in Kabul

To conduct these missions, Hercules crews are highly skilled in low-level flying and trained to perform in both day and night.

The plan to rescue the stranded SAS troops was put together by the Joint Special Forces Aviation Wing. The aircraft and crew came from the RAF’s 47 Squadron. It comes as Taliban fighters were on the move last night to take over a key Afghanistan province currently outside of their control.

Hundreds of troops are heading towards Panjshir Valley, an area above Kabul long known for its opposition to extremists.

In a statement, the insurgents said their soldiers were planning to take control of the region ‘after local state officials refused to hand it over peacefully’. But they are expected to meet significant resistance from thousands of ex-government troops who have joined forces with local militia.

An RAF plane was filled to capacity with embassy staff, British nationals and any Afghans able to settle in the UK

Thousands of Afghans could be left behind in Kabul as ministers push to extend the deadline for the last British evacuation flight beyond Tuesday. Pictured: British citizens catching a flight earlier this week

Taliban fighters stand guard on their side at a border crossing point between Pakistan and Afghanistan, in Torkham, in Khyber district, Pakistan

A Pakistani paramilitary soldier, right, and Taliban fighters stand guard on their respective sides at a border crossing point between Pakistan and Afghanistan, in Torkham, in Khyber district, Pakistan

A U.S. Navy Corpsman with Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force – Crisis Response – Central Command, hands out water to children during an evacuation at Hamid Karzai International Airport

They are led by Ahmad Massoud, the leader of the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan, who warned that a new civil war is inevitable without a comprehensive power-sharing agreement.

Massoud claims to have some 9,000 fighters and has openly conducted training exercises showing recruits performing fitness routines. He also claims to have hundreds of military vehicles as well as five helicopters.

Pictures have emerged of a string of armoured vehicles lining up on the banks of the Panjshir River.

Defences are being bolstered at entrances to the Panjshir Valley, the south of which is guarded by a narrow gorge. Massoud said his group wants to push for a new system of government, but is prepared to fight if needed.

‘The Taliban will not last long if it continues on this path,’ he said. ‘We are ready to defend Afghanistan and we warn of a bloodshed.’

Inspired by past victories against the Soviets and the Taliban, Panjshiri soldiers have spoken in recent days about ‘a fight to the death’.

Don’t cut and run, Joe: Boris Johnson will plead with Biden not to leave UK troops at mercy of ISIS suicide bombers in Kabul – after President said he ‘hopes not to’ extend US mission beyond August 31

by JAMES ROBINSON for MailOnline and JOHN STEVENS and MARK NICOL for the Daily Mail

Boris Johnson and G7 leaders will plead with Joe Biden to delay the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, amid fears mercy flights could be halted within 48 hours.

The Prime Minister will use a virtual meeting of world leaders tomorrow to push for more time so thousands are not left behind in the clutches of the Taliban.

However they could be facing an uphill battle, with the US President refusing to commit to an extension.

Nearly 6,000 UK citizens and Afghan staff had been airlifted out by the RAF by last night, and, according to reports last night, a further 6,000 people will be flown out this week.

But the rescue mission is reliant on the American military retaining control of Kabul airport. Along with losing key air support, British military officials fear Islamic State (IS) may also target UK soldiers at Kabul airport in suicide bomb attacks.

‘It is vital that the international community works together to ensure safe evacuations, prevent a humanitarian crisis and support the Afghan people to secure the gains of the last 20 years,’ Mr Johnson said last night.

But, while the PM last night issued his plea for co-operation, last night there appeared little hope of US troops remaining in Afghanistan beyond the end of this month.

President Biden said yesterday he ‘hopes not to’ extend his current deadline. He made a pledge to US citizens that ‘any American who wants to get home will get home’ but pointedly failed to mention his allies.

It came as dramatic pictures emerged of Taliban fighters and British troops, once sworn enemies, working just yards apart at Kabul airport.

Downing Street insiders said Mr Johnson will ask the US President at the G7 meeting not to leave Western allies in the lurch.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab and Defence Secretary Ben Wallace have also been in contact with their opposite numbers in Washington on the issue.

A Whitehall source said last night: ‘The situation on the ground is in flux – it would be unwise to impose a rigid deadline at this stage.’

Mr Biden has set a deadline of August 31 for all Americans to have left the country, but UK military sources said another fortnight was needed.

Asked what he would say if G7 leaders pushed him, Mr Biden said: ‘I will tell them we will see what we can do.’

British military commanders are understood to have pencilled in August 25 as the last day they can process refugees, including former British interpreters, before the focus shifts to getting about 1,000 British troops and government officials home safely.

It could mean the last British evacuation flight may have to leave as soon as tomorrow or Wednesday to allow soldiers enough time to withdraw. Reports in the Times today suggested the final date could be pushed back to Friday or Saturday.

Meanwhile, furious former generals last night urged the Prime Minister to continue the UK’s Afghanistan evacuation mission even if the US leaves, in the hoping of getting ‘every last Britain out’.

It came as:

Boris Johnson (pictured left) will attempt to persuade US President Joe Biden (pictured right) to keep American troops in Afghanistan beyond his August 31 deadline when the two leaders take part in a G7 meeting this week

There are fears that the 1,000 UK troops taking part in Britain’s rescue operation will have to pull out when America’s remaining group of 6,000 leave, due to a lack of air support. Pictured: Evacuees from Afghanistan as they arrive in an Airbus A400 transport aircraft of the German Air Force Luftwaffe in Tashkent, Uzbekista

Afghan families enter into Pakistan through a border crossing point in Chaman, Pakistan

Afghan nationals arrive in Pakistan through the Pakistan-Afghanistan border crossing point in Chaman today

People stand on a barrier outside Kabul airport, Afghanistan, after the Taliban takeover of the city last week

A man instructs people to queue as they stand with their belongings outside Kabul airport, Afghanistan

US military plans are doing rapid diving combat landings to beat the threat of a missile attack, with video showing a French transport plane yesterday deploying flares designed to confuse heat-seeking technology

Over recent days, the President has remained stubbornly opposed to any plan to extend the rescue operation into September.

His stance means UK nationals and Afghans eligible to relocate to Britain would have to escape themselves to a third country, such as Pakistan, from where they could travel to the UK on commercial aircraft.

Such journeys would be fraught with danger. Scores of interpreters are hiding in Kabul following beatings and shootings by the Taliban; punishment for their service to a foreign power.

Planes drop flares and make ‘diving combat landings’ amid fears of ISIS missile attacks as twenty die at airport

Military planes making evacuation runs into Kabul are dropping flares and carrying out nosedive combat landings amid fears that Islamic terrorists may try to shoot one down as Afghans trying to flee the Taliban have described at least 20 civilians being killed in the chaos.

US military planes are doing rapid diving combat landings to beat the threat of a missile attack, with video showing a French transport plane yesterday deploying flares designed to confuse heat-seeking technology which may have been stolen by Islamic State in Afghanistan.

Taliban forces controlling all access points to Hamid Karzai International Airport are not thought to be attempting to shoot down military aircraft during the Western evacuation effort, as such an action could trigger another American-led intervention in Afghanistan.

It is feared Islamic State in Afghanistan – also known as ISIS-K – could use stolen heat-seeking missiles to bring down a rescue plane carrying hundreds of refugees including women and children.

ISIS militants have been fighting the Taliban for the last six years as they attempt to annex their own piece of Afghanistan following the collapse of their caliphate in Syria and Iraq following Western airstrikes and raids targeting the terror group.

Afghans at Kabul airport have described seeing more than 15 people including a two-year-old girl shot and beaten to death by the Taliban or trampled to death in the melee as thousands of locals desperately try to escape the new regime. One family described night-time crowd surges outside the airport gates and people killed in the stampede as they pleaded: ‘We are trapped in a hell.’

A NATO official who spoke on condition of anonymity told Reuters at least 20 people have been killed in the past seven days in and around Kabul airport during the evacuation effort. The British Ministry of Defence said seven Afghans had died while trying to flee the Taliban.

British Armed Forces Minister James Heappey has said that more than 1,700 people have been airlifted out in the past 24 hours with the help of the Taliban, adding that the militants were marshalling people into separate UK and US evacuation queues.

However, Taliban militants surrounding Kabul airport fired in the air and used batons to beat back the crowds and make people line up in orderly queues on Sunday, witnesses said. The crude crowd-control methods, together with reports that Taliban gangs have marauded conquered territory to enslave female Afghans, fly in the face of the group’s stated claims to be going ‘moderate’.

Tonight Mr Biden appeared to push back on extending, saying: ‘Let me be clear – the evacuation of thousands of people from Kabul is going to be hard and painful,’ Biden said.

‘No matter when it started, when we began. It would have been true if we had started a month ago, or a month from now.

‘There is no way to evacuate this many people without pain and loss and heartbreaking images you see on television. It’s just a fact.’

He said about 11,000 people were lifted out of Kabul in less than 36 hours and said defence officials ‘hope’ they will not have to extend the evacuation operation.

However in a glimmer of hope that an extension was still possible, he added: ‘There are going to be discussions I suspect on how far along we are in the process.

‘Our first priority in Kabul is getting American citizens out of the situation as quickly and safely as possible,’ Biden said.

‘Any American that wants to get home will get home.’

He also said the US government is ‘looking to move our Afghan allies’ out of the country as well, noting that citizens of NATO allies and Afghan allies were amongst the 11,000 individuals evacuated this past weekend.

Meanwhile, Tobias Ellwood, chairman of the Commons defence committee, last night stressed the importance of Mr Johnson convincing Mr Biden that the rescue mission should be extended.

He said: ‘Time is unquestionably running out and unless there is movement politically on that cut-off point of August 31, we could see flights for former interpreters, other eligible Afghans and refugees ending in the coming days.

‘After that, the main effort must switch to the safe withdrawal of our military personnel.

‘It simply isn’t possible to do both at the same time; the folding up of the military mission cannot be done amid the mayhem and chaos we are currently witnessing; in particular given genuine fears of a terrorist attack.

‘Boris Johnson must get the support of other G7 leaders and present a united front to President Biden. More time must be made available.

‘I dread to think what the scenes will be at the airport this week as the deadline approaches. There could be carnage. We are perhaps fortunate that more lives haven’t been lost and no British troops have been wounded.’

The threat of a terrorist attack is being factored into all military plans as the chaos is thought to provide an ‘open goal’ opportunity for the Islamic State terror group to strike British and other international forces.

Military aircraft have been seen dropping anti-missile flares and carrying out nosedive combat landings amid fears that terrorists may try to shoot down an aircraft.

Armed Forces minister James Heappey conceded the UK would not be able to rescue everyone who has been promised sanctuary here.

Asked how important it was that Mr Biden approved an extension of the deadline, Mr Heappey said: ‘We are assuming nothing… If the programme is extended, then there is the opportunity to continue with flights.

‘But the Taliban get a vote in that too – it’s not just a decision made in Washington.’

Meanwhile, a former British Army general last night said the UK should go it alone if the US does not push back its leaving date.

Retired Major General Tim Cross, who served in Iraq and Kosovo, told the Sun: ‘What’s the point of having armed forces if we cannot hold a single airfield? It makes the whole global Britain idea a joke.’

Another, Colonel Richard Kemp, a retired officer who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, told the paper: ‘We are one of the most powerful military nations in the world. We should stay until we have got every last Brit, and everyone we need, out.’

The Minister of Defence last night said it would be ‘impractical’ to secure Kabul Airport and to continue the evacuation mission ‘without the partnership (with the US)’.

Meanwhile, fears have been raised about UK and US troops being targeted by IS terrorists as the evacuation at Kabul airport continues. Fears of an Isis attack on the have prompted the US to warn its citizens not to travel to the site without instructions from its officials.

Former British Army generals last night said the UK should go it alone if the US does not push back its leaving date. Colonel Richard Kemp, a retired officer who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, told the Sun: ‘We are one of the most powerful military nations in the world. We should stay until we have got every last Brit, and everyone we need, out.’

Tobias Ellwood (pictured left), chairman of the Commons defence committee, last night stressed the importance of Mr Johnson convincing Mr Biden that the rescue mission should be extended. Armed Forces minister James Heappey (pictured right) conceded the UK would not be able to rescue everyone who has been promised sanctuary here

Evacuations have been underway in Afghanistan since the Taliban took control of the country on August 13 after American troops were pulled from the country

A porter pushes a wheelbarrow carrying Afghan children as family members enters into Pakistan through a border crossing point in Chaman, Pakistan

The 19th century struggle for power in Afghanistan between the UK and Tsarist Russia was called the Great Game. As the US and the UK pull its troops and the Taliban retake control by force, who will Afghanistan’s new leaders cosy-up with? Turkey, the only Muslim-majority member of Nato, could benefit, partly because it can control the flow of Afghan refugees into Europe. The mullahs in Iran are delighted by the departure of the US and will recognise the new Kabul regime. Russia will also be pleased to see the US leave, but has its own concerns about Islamic extremism. China and Pakistan have also made early noises of support, while Qatar hosted Taliban leaders in its capital Doha since 2013. However India is dismayed by the Taliban’s victory. Here Michael Burleigh looks at where each countries vested interests lie, and which countries will be happy and who will be angry at the Taliban takeover

Ex US ambassador in Afghanistan says US must extend date evacuation

Former top British military officials urge UK to ‘go it alone’ in Afghanistan rescue mission if the US pulls out as planned on August 31

Former top British military officials last night urged the UK to go it alone in its Afghanistan rescue mission if the US does not push back its pull-out date.

President Joe Biden last night said he ‘hoped not to’ extend the date for pulling his 6,000 remaining US troops from Kabul. The current date is August 31.

UK defence bosses say it is unlikely British troops will be able to remain in Kabul once the US pulls its forces.

However a former British Army general last night said the UK should go it alone if the US does not push back its leaving date.

Retired Major General Tim Cross, who served in Iraq and Kosovo, told the Sun: ‘What’s the point of having armed forces if we cannot hold a single airfield? It makes the whole global Britain idea a joke.’

Another, Colonel Richard Kemp, a retired officer who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, told the paper: ‘We are one of the most powerful military nations in the world. We should stay until we have got every last Brit, and everyone we need, out.’

The Minister of Defence last night said it would be ‘impractical’ to secure Kabul Airport and to continue the evacuation mission ‘without the partnership (with the US)’.

A government source told the Times last night: ‘We know they (IS) would love to get a suicide bomb into the crowd and take out some Brits or Americans.

‘There is a serious threat of an Isis suicide bomber. The soldiers are having to keep their fingers on the trigger in one hand while holding a baby in the other. It’s very fragile.’

It comes as Sir Laurie Bristow, Britain’s ambassador to Afghanistan, last night said the UK had managed to evacuate more than 5,700 people, including 1,000 in the previous 14 hours.

And British troops could be given extra time to evacuate more people out of Afghanistan. The Times suggest that the military has now managed to push back the final evacuation date to Friday or Saturday, in order to help more people.

The evacuation missions has also been expanded, according to the paper. The expansion is reportedly due to a rise in the number of people who have come forward with eligibility claims to the UK.

The figure is thought to have raised from 6,000 last week to around 12,000. Part of the rise is due to the inclusion of Afghan politicians, civic leaders and humanitarian workers, as well as their families, the Times reports.

Lord Richards, the former chief of defence staff, meanwhile, said extending the evacuation window would ‘undoubtedly’ save lives if the Taliban agreed to it.

He added: ‘Western politicians [are] sleepwalking through this, coming out with all sorts of statements of regret and recrimination,’ he told BBC Radio 4’s Broadcasting House. It’s so important that we now get a grip of it.

‘I think there could be an international consensus and the Taliban ironically might well welcome it, because the alternative is some very bad headlines come September 1 when we see starving Afghans, and worse potentially, simply because they don’t have the capacity to deal with it.’

Sir Nick Kay, the former British ambassador to Afghanistan, told LBC radio: ‘If you can extend that deadline you can release the Afghan people from the panic that they’re in that this is all going to end within a matter of days and hours.’

Former Tory party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith said Mr Biden ‘needs to be told categorically, you can’t go off by this ridiculous artificial date’.

A U.S. Navy Corpsman with Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force – Crisis Response – Central Command, hands out water to children during an evacuation at Hamid Karzai International Airport

Taliban fighters stand guard at a checkpoint in the Wazir Akbar Khan neighborhood in the city of Kabul, Afghanistan

The fighters were all seen carrying weapons as they spoke to passing Afghans at the checkpoint in the Wazir Akbar Khan neighborhood in the city of Kabul

Taliban fighters were seen carrying automatic weapons and with ammo strap to their chest at the checkpoint in Wazir Akbar Khan neighbourhood of Kabul

US President Joe Biden refuses to rule out extending August 31 deadline to withdraw from Afghanistan

President Joe Biden said U.S. forces had extended the perimeter around Kabul airport on Sunday as they try to accelerate the evacuation of American nationals after days of chaos and crushes.

At the same time he warned that terrorists of ISIS may seek to exploit the operation by attacking Americans or Afghan civilians.

The result is that discussions are under way to extend the president’s August 31 deadline for the full troop withdrawal.

‘Let me be clear – the evacuation of thousands of people from Kabul is going to be hard and painful,’ Biden said.

‘No matter when it started, when we began. It would have been true if we had started a month ago, or a month from now. There is no way to evacuate this many people without pain and loss and heartbreaking images you see on television.

‘It’s just a fact.’

He said about 11,000 people were lifted out of Kabul in less than 36 hours and said defense officials ‘hope’ they will not have to extend the evacuation operation, but ‘there are going to be discussions I suspect on how far along we are in the process’.

‘Our first priority in Kabul is getting American citizens out of the situation as quickly and safely as possible,’ Biden said.

‘Any American that wants to get home will get home.’

Biden says for security reasons, he cannot share what plans entail for moving Americans safely to the Kabul airport.

He also said the government is ‘looking to move our Afghan allies’ out of the country as well, noting that citizens of NATO allies and Afghan allies were amongst the 11,000 individuals evacuated this past weekend.

The president stated that as evacuation efforts are underway he wanted to be clear about three things:

‘One, planes taking off from Kabul are not flying directly to the United States,’ said Biden, explaining that the planes are landing at U.S. Military bases and transit centers around the world where security screenings will take place for non-citizens.

‘Two, at these sites where they are landing we are conducting scrutiny security screening for everyone who is not a U.S. citizen or a lawful permanent resident.

‘Anyone arriving in the United States will have undergone a background check.’

He also noted that the government will welcome these individuals into the U.S.

‘Three, once screened and cleared we will welcome these Afghans we helped us in the war effort over the last 20 years,’ said Biden.

He told LBC: ‘The idea that in the next couple of days there will be the last flights is abominable.’

During last night’s national address from the White House, Mr Biden said it did not matter when the Afghan evacuation began, it was always ‘going to be hard and painful’.

The President added: ‘No way of evacuating this number of people would be without pain and loss. It is just a fact.

‘We are bringing out citizens, Nato allies, Afghani allies… but we have a long way to go and a lot can still go wrong.’

It comes as today Tony Blair blasted President Biden’s ‘imbecilic’ decision to withdraw US troops from Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, calling the President’s scuttle ‘tragic, dangerous and unnecessary’ and claiming the move had ‘every Jihadist group round the world cheering’.

Mr Blair, who was in Downing Street when London sent UK troops to the Middle Eastern country 20 years ago following the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington DC, said Britain has a ‘moral obligation’ to stay until ‘all those who need to be are evacuated’.

In a 2,700 article on the threat of ‘radical Islam’, the former British prime minister said the exit was not in the West or Afghanistan’s interest as he lamented the likely reversal of gains made during the occupation, with the Taliban reasserting itself across most of the country in recent days.

Speaking to Sky News on Sunday, Mr Blair said he has ‘enormous respect’ for Mr Biden, but suggested the President – who campaigned on a slogan of ending ‘forever wars’ and is likely to be keeping an eye on next year’s midterms – had withdrawn US troops for domestic political reasons.

He repeated his assertion that the withdrawal was a ‘serious mistake’ and ‘not something we needed to do’ and said there had been ‘a lot of gains’ made in the past two decades, stressing that the deaths of British Armed Forces personnel were ‘not in vain’.

Mr Blair also issued a stark warning to Boris Johnson that the manner of the US’ handling of the exit indicated the UK could be relegated from the top division of international powers, with reports Britain was largely kept in the dark about when American armed forces would leave.

He added that countries including China and Russia are likely to applaud the withdrawal and occupy the ‘vacuum’ in Afghanistan left by the NATO powers.

Both the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab have suggested Britain will now have to turn to Beijing and Moscow to assist with exercising a ‘moderating influence’ over the Taliban post-withdrawal.

Cabinet insiders have suggested the President was ‘gaga’ and ‘doolally’ for withdrawing so quickly, while the Prime Minister has allegedly privately referred to Mr Biden as ‘Sleepy Joe’, the nickname coined by Donald Trump. Mr Johnson also allegedly remarked Britain ‘would be better off with Trump’ – allegations branded ‘categorically untrue’ by Downing Street.

‘For Britain, out of Europe and suffering the end of the Afghanistan mission by our greatest ally with little or no consultation, we have serious reflection to do,’ said Mr Blair. ‘We don’t see it yet, but we are at risk of relegation to the second division of global powers.’

His comments come as the US President signalled he wanted evacuations from Kabul airport completed by the end of the month as he prepares to withdraw all American troops – a move that would likely force Britain to wrap up its operation at the same time. 

Tony Blair defends Afghan war with despair over withdrawal

Tony Blair has branded Joe Biden an ‘imbecile’ over his ‘tragic, dangerous, unnecessary’ decision to withdraw the US troops from Afghanistan, and claimed that the move had ‘every Jihadist group round the world cheering’

Blair: Respect and admiration for Biden, but disagreements on Afghanistan

Mr Blair issued a stark warning to Prime Minister Boris Johnson that the manner of the US’ handling of the exit indicated the UK could be relegated from the top division of international powers, with reports Britain was largely kept in the dark about when American armed forces would leave

A woman scales the wall and braves the razor wire of Kabul airport

Mr Blair told Sky News on Sunday: ‘I’ve enormous respect for Joe Biden, I’ve known him for many years – he is a good man and he’s a decent man. But on the other hand … I think it is important to realise this was not something we needed to do.

‘I understand the political pressure but our footprint had really been reduced to a much smaller level, and by the end of 2019 we were in a situation whereby we could have held firm for some considerable time and helped the Afghan people through the next stages of their progress.’

Mr Blair said there had been ‘a lot of gains’ made in the past two decades and stressed that the deaths of UK armed forces personnel were ‘not in vain’.

Terror threat level should be raised to severe with threat of attack on UK soil ‘highly likely’, ex-head of British forces warns

A jihadist atrocity on British soil is now ‘highly likely’ following the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan and the UK’s terror threat level should be raised to ‘severe’, the former head of British forces in Afghanistan and Government counter-terrorism adviser has warned.

Colonel Richard Kemp claimed that the Taliban regime will allow al-Qaeda and so-called Islamic State terrorists to operate on Afghan territory they control – a key provision of the US withdrawal deal negotiated by Donald Trump last year – and launch attacks on the UK.

He warned there is an ‘immediately increased threat from British jihadists inspired and motivated by events in Afghanistan’ and urged the Government to ‘consider raising the UK threat level and increasing counter-terrorist assets available to the intelligence services and police’.

It is understood British and US Special Forces will establish secret bases in neighbouring countries which will be used to target any terrorist bases in Afghanistan in the weeks and months ahead.

The current national threat level – which is set by the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre, which works with MI5 – is ‘substantial’ and the next level is ‘severe’. It was lowered from ‘severe’ in February following a spate of atrocities in Austria and France, including the murder of a teacher in Paris who showed a class a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad.

He added: ‘Our troops were fantastic in Afghanistan, and a lot of them made the ultimate sacrifice, a lot of them were injured. And it’s really important that they know that this wasn’t a hopeless endeavour, and it wasn’t a bad cause.

‘What I’d say to them is the sacrifice was not in vain, that those 20 years matter. What we achieved in Afghanistan matters today. I think it’s really important that people realise this, the story of Afghanistan, the story of the Taliban takeover, it’s not over. It’s tragic what’s happened, I think it’s unnecessary, I think we’ve made a serious mistake in doing this in this way, but it isn’t over yet.’

In his article, Mr Blair urged for there to be ‘no repetition of arbitrary deadlines’ – a reference to Washington’s Doha agreement with the Taliban, committing to vacate Afghanistan in time for the 9/11 anniversary – in the rescue mission.

‘We must evacuate and give sanctuary to those to whom we have responsibility – those Afghans who helped us and stood by us and have a right to demand we stand by them,’ said the former Labour Party leader.

‘There must be no repetition of arbitrary deadlines. We have a moral obligation to keep at it until all those who need to be are evacuated. And we should do so not grudgingly but out of a deep sense of humanity and responsibility.’

Mr Blair defended his own decision making in 2001 when he worked with former US president George Bush and NATO allies to avenge the New York World Trade Centre attack. After the Taliban refused to evict al Qaeda, the terror group that masterminded the hijacking of the planes in 2001, Mr Blair said Western allies, who feared worse attacks were to come, felt there was ‘no safer alternative’ than to strike.

He continued: ‘There is no doubt that in the years that followed we made mistakes, some serious. But the reaction to our mistakes have been unfortunately further mistakes.

‘Today we are in a mood which seems to regard the bringing of democracy as a utopian delusion and intervention virtually of any sort as a fool’s errand. The world is now uncertain of where the West stands because it is so obvious that the decision to withdraw from Afghanistan in this way was driven not by grand strategy but by politics.

‘We didn’t need to do it. We chose to do it.

‘We did it in obedience to an imbecilic political slogan about ending ‘the forever wars’, as if our engagement in 2021 was remotely comparable to our commitment 20 or even 10 years ago, in circumstances in which troop numbers had declined to a minimum and no allied soldier had lost their life in combat for 18 months.’

The former Middle East envoy said that, although ‘imperfect’, the ‘real gains over the past 20 years’ were likely to be lost following the Taliban victory, including advances in living standards, education particularly of girls, and other freedoms.

He called for the UK, in its role as president of the G7 this year, to help coordinate an international response to ‘hold the new regime to account’.

The UK Government has been working diplomatically to ensure there is no unilateral recognition of a Taliban government in Afghanistan, with Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab refusing to rule out applying sanctions if the militants renege on their promise to be more inclusive, especially in their attitudes towards women, than when last in control.

Mr Blair said: ‘We need to draw up a list of incentives, sanctions, actions we can take including to protect the civilian population so the Taliban understand their actions will have consequences. This is urgent. The disarray of the past weeks needs to be replaced by something resembling coherence and with a plan that is credible and realistic.’

The Prime Minister’s feelings about America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan have been variously described by sources as ‘furious’, ‘a betrayal’ and ‘let down’.

Downing Street dismisses the claims – it is in neither country’s interests to stoke tensions when the future of Afghanistan hangs in the balance – but there is little question that the UK has been left exposed by the speed of Washington’s pull-out.

No 10 also denies claims that the Prime Minister was disappointed by Mr Biden’s victory in the Presidential elections and had declared that it would have been ‘better’ if Mr Trump had won a second term, and say it is ‘categorically untrue’ that Mr Johnson employs the President’s derogatory nickname of Sleepy Joe during jocular conversations.

However, one minister denounced US isolationism and warned the Government would have to ‘revisit’ the recent review on defence and foreign policy because the US was no longer a reliable ally.

They told the Sunday Times: ‘America has just signalled to the world that they are not that keen on playing a global role. The implications of that are absolutely huge. We need to get the integrated review out and reread it. We are going to have to do a hard-nosed revisit on all our assumptions and policies.

Pakistan’s soldiers check the documents of Afghan and Pakistani nationals for crossing into Afghanistan at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border crossing point in Chaman

People gather outside the Pakistani embassy, to obtain a visa. after Taliban took over in Kabul

A soldier carries someone amid the chaos at Kabul airport in Afghanistan yesterday, with thousands desperate to flee the country

Hundreds of Afghans desperately trying to flee the Taliban are pictured outside Kabul airport

‘The US had to be dragged kicking and screaming into the First World War. They turned up late for the Second World War and now they are cutting and running in Afghanistan.’

Speaking to Sky News today, Mr Blair said ‘the only people really cheering this decision are the people hostile to Western interests’ – listing among them the Chinese and Russian regimes.

‘We’ve got to realise we were in a situation where… we could’ve managed the situation,’ he said. ‘The problem with what’s happened now is that it’s not just about the Afghan people and our obligation to them… it’s about us and our security.

‘Because you’ve now got this group back in charge of Afghanistan. They will give protection and succour to al Qaeda, you’ve got ISIS (Islamic State) already in the country trying to operate at the same time. You look round the world and the only people really cheering this decision are the people hostile to Western interests.’

Mr Blair said the UK and its G7 allies will need to come up with a ‘strategy’ to deal with the Taliban regime to make sure ‘we don’t end up with a security threat’.

UN warns Afghanistan faces ‘absolute catastrophe’ of famine, homelessness and economic ruin

The United Nations has warned that Afghanistan faces an ‘absolute catastrophe’ of famine, homelessness and economic ruin, as the Tory chairman of the Commons Defence Committee urged the organisation’s ‘immediate’ intervention before Kabul descends into ‘complete disorder’.

Mary-Ellen McGroarty, the UN’s World Food Programme’s country director for Afghanistan, told the Observer swift coordinated action was critical ‘otherwise, an already horrendous situation is just going to become an absolute catastrophe, a complete humanitarian disaster’.

She added: ‘We need to get supplies into the country, not only in terms of food, but the medical supplies, the shelter supplies. We need money and we need it now. Delay for the next six or seven weeks and it’s going to start becoming too late. People have nothing.

‘We have to get food in now and get it to the communities in the provinces, before roads are blocked by snow.’

Ex-Army officer Tobias Ellwood, who together with Tom Tugendhat and Johnny Mercer has been one of the most outspoken opponents of the scuttle, told Sky News: ‘If you do want to withdraw from a country you don’t pull out your military first and then choose to allow the civilians to depart.

‘This is the wrong order in which we’ve done things, and this situation is simply not sustainable, it’s getting worse every single day. The airport cannot manage this and with the terrorist threat growing the chances are the airport will implode.

‘What I will say is the United Nations and its agencies must be brought in immediately before complete disorder breaks down. The relationship between the US and the Taliban is very very fragile indeed, the US has frozen Afghanistan’s assets, the economy is in freefall.

‘Many of the civil servants that help run the country and indeed run the airport have already departed. We require some serious international leadership immediately.’

He added: ‘We should be putting together the leading countries who are part of this coalition in the first place and who have supported Afghanistan in the last 20 years and we need to work out what our strategy and tactics are going to be in respect of the Taliban government.

‘We need to be drawing up a list of incentives and sanctions and other things we can do in order to use the leverage we have, which is not insignificant. The Taliban will find that governing is a lot harder than they thought. The population of Afghanistan is different.

‘There’s going to be a lot that we can still do but it’s important that we mobilise now after the disarray frankly of the last few weeks, that we mobilise as the leading countries and make it clear that we still understand we have an obligation in our own interests to try and resolve this situation and to put as much pressure on the government in Afghanistan as possible to make sure that we don’t end up either with a security threat in play for us or with the Afghan people losing the gains they’ve made over the last 20 years.’

Across Whitehall and in British embassies around the world, officials and diplomats are adjusting to the fact that Mr Biden has adopted an America First policy every bit as isolationist as his predecessor’s.

There are also whispered concerns that the 78-year-old might be, in the words of one Government source, ‘a bit doolally’ – unable to exert full executive grip on the White House and with a world view forged decades ago and out of step with the demands of leadership in the 2020s.

The Times claimed yesterday that Mr Johnson finds Mr Biden ‘lightweight and inward-looking’.

Observers of the two men’s relationship believe that there is a degree of wariness, with Mr Biden regarding Mr Johnson as a ‘mini-Trump’ because of his personality-driven style of politics and the pair talking far less frequently than Mr Johnson and Mr Trump did.

There are also policy differences, with Washington reluctant to accede to the UK’s demand to ramp up spending on ‘green’ policies ahead of the COP26 climate change summit being hosted by the UK in November.

Of particular irritation in London during the Afghan endgame has been the fact that British military commanders have been cut out of discussions between the US and the Taliban.

But a No 10 source said yesterday that Mr Johnson had not expressed any anger over the US withdrawal, and said the two men had enjoyed a ‘warm and constructive’ phone conversation on Tuesday evening.

A Downing Street spokesman said: ‘These claims are categorically untrue. The Prime Minister has not criticised President Biden, and they have a very strong working relationship.

The President’s first call to a leader outside of North America after his election win was to the Prime Minister.

They have worked together on a range of issues, including at the recent G7, where they secured an additional one billion Covid vaccine doses for developing countries, and signed the Carbis Bay Declaration to improve global health co-operation and prevent future pandemics’.

President Biden cancelled plans to spend the weekend at his home in Delaware. Instead he is meeting his national security team ‘to hear intelligence, security and diplomatic updates on the evolving situation in Afghanistan,’ the White House said.

Lord Ricketts, who served as the Government’s first national security adviser from 2010 to 2012 under former prime minister David Cameron, said the UK will need to ‘rethink’ its foreign policy stance following the United States’ handling of the Afghanistan withdrawal.

Speaking to Times Radio, he said: ‘It has been a humiliating period for the UK. I’m afraid we’ve learnt that (US President) Joe Biden has put US politics ahead of NATO alliance solidarity and Britain hasn’t counted for much in that decision, if anything at all.

‘The hard fact is we are going to need to continue to work with the Americans in all sorts of areas and this has been a difficult experience, but we need to bring the Americans back to working with their allies, taking account of our views.

‘But we can’t somehow invent a foreign policy without the Americans so we’ve got to take a deep breath and do some frank talking to Joe Biden and then get back to work with him.’

The former chair of the Joint Intelligence Committee continued: ‘We need to rethink a lot of that rhetoric in the integrated review published by the Government a few months ago about Britain as an independent sovereign operator, turning the dial on international crises.

‘We have shown actually that we are pretty impotent in a situation where the Americans take a decision – we have little choice but to follow.

 

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