Afghanistan is spiralling into a failed state and a civil war in which militant groups such as al Qaeda will thrive, the defence secretary has warned.
Ben Wallace expressed his concerns that this will likely pose a threat again to the West.
“I’m absolutely worried that failed states are breeding grounds for those types of people. Al Qaeda will probably come back,” he told Sky.
“I think we are heading towards a civil war,” he told the BBC.
After a 20-year war in Afghanistan, the United States has withdrawn most of its troops, allowing Taliban forces to sweep across the country in what diplomats have cast as a humiliation for Washington.
The Taliban controlled most of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, when it was ousted for harbouring al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden after the September 11 attacks on the United States.
The speed of the Taliban advance has shocked the Afghan government and its Western allies.
Mr Wallace said that if the group started to harbour al Qaeda, then “we could be back.”
On Thursday he said Britain will deploy hundreds of military personnel to Afghanistan to help British nationals and local translators get out of the country.
Following a meeting of the Government’s Cobra contingencies committee, the Prime Minister confirmed the “vast bulk” of the remaining UK embassy staff in Kabul would return in the next few days.
“And we’ll step up our efforts to bring back those Afghans who have helped us, helped the UK, helped international forces throughout the last 20 years,” he said.
The prime minister said we have got to be realistic about the power of the UK or any power to impost a military solution.
“What we certainly can do is work with all our partners in the region around the world who share an interest with us in preventing Afghanistan once again becoming a breeding ground for terror,” he added.
