Boris Johnson is set to recall Parliament over worsening Afghanistan crisis

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Boris Johnson is urging western countries to not recognise the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan and says the country must not become a ‘breeding ground for terror’, after he was seen posing for pictures with Team GB Olympians. 

The Prime Minister has earlier posed for publicity pictures with athletes at an event in London as Downing Street said ministers and senior officials would meet on Sunday afternoon to discuss the worsening situation.

And it emerged Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab had flown back to Britain from his overseas holiday, breaking his silence on the war-torn country. He said the world must tell the Taliban ‘the violence must end and human rights must be protected’. 

The Foreign Office refused to say where the Foreign Secretary was but said he was expected to land in the UK today. 

Following an emergency meeting of Cobra yesterday, Mr Johnson called for a ‘united position among the like-minded’ and said it was ‘clear’ there is ‘going to be very shortly a new government in Kabul, or a new political dispensation’.

He said the situation in Afghanistan remains ‘difficult’, and the Government’s priority is ‘to make sure we deliver on our obligations to UK nationals in Afghanistan, to all those who have helped the British effort… over 20 years and to get them out as fast as we can.’ 

He told Sky News: ‘We don’t want anybody bilaterally recognising the Taliban, we want a united position amongst all the like-minded, in 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.’ 

Mr Johnson added: ‘I think we’ve known for some time this is the way things were going and as I said before, this is a mission whose military component really ended for the UK in 2014, what we’re dealing with now is the very likely advent of a new regime in Kabul, we don’t know exactly what kind of a regime that will be.’    

Tory MPs blasted the PM and Mr Raab over the escalating crisis and called for British troops to be redeployed. 

Tom Tugendhat, Tobias Ellwood and Johnny Mercer, all former soldiers, said the UK needs to take action to push back the Taliban and rescue civilians.

Mr Tugendhat slammed the Foreign Secretary and questioned why Britain had not heard from him ‘in about a week’. The Chairman of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee branded it ‘the biggest single foreign policy disaster’ since Suez.

Defence Committee chairman Mr Ellwood said the fighting was a humiliation for the West.

Johnny Mercer argued the ‘idea we cannot act unilaterally and support the Afghan security forces is simply not true’.

Lisa Nandy, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, told MailOnline: ‘For the Foreign Secretary to go AWOL during an international crisis of this magnitude is nothing short of shameful.

‘A catastrophe is unfolding in front of our eyes and while the Foreign Secretary is nowhere to be seen, hundreds of British nationals are being evacuated and his department is cancelling scholarships for young Afghans.

‘Given our long involvement in the region and the sacrifices made by British troops, the government’s priority must be evacuating British personnel and support staff to safety and setting out a clear strategy to avoid a humanitarian crisis on an appalling scale.’

NATO allies that had pulled out their forces ahead of the Biden administration’s intended August 31 withdrawal deadline were rushing troops back in this weekend to airlift their citizens, while the Pentagon was sending in fresh reinforcements.

Some complained the U.S. was failing to move fast enough to bring to safety the Afghans who fear retribution from the Taliban for past work with the Americans and other NATO forces.

‘This is murder by incompetence,’ said U.S. Air Force veteran Sam Lerman, struggling Sunday from his home in Woodbridge, Virginia, to find a way out for an Afghan contractor who had guarded Americans and other NATO forces at Afghanistan’s Bagram air base for a decade.

British troops are racing against the clock to get remaining UK nationals and their local allies out of Afghanistan following the dramatic fall of the country’s Western-backed government to the Taliban.

Lead elements of 16 Air Assault Brigade were working with US forces to secure Kabul airport to ensure flights can continue as Afghans and foreigners alike scramble to leave.

While the airport has so far not come under attack, there are fears that could change quickly with Taliban insurgents now effectively in control of the capital.

Triumphal fighters were pictured in the presidential palace abandoned by President Ashraf Ghani who fled the country while his forces gave up the city without a fight.

Parliament is set to be recalled from its summer recess next week to discuss the situation in Afghanistan.

A No10 source said the Prime Minister was expected to seek a recall of MPs this week to discuss the worsening situation.

Timings of the return to Westminster will be confirmed following discussions with Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle.

Taliban fighters entered the outskirts of Kabul today as the lead elements of the British force sent to evacuate the remaining UK nationals in the capital.

The are believed to be around 6,000 in Afghanistan, though it is not clear where they are based.

In a sign of the speed of the collapse, arrangements were reportedly being made to fly the British ambassador Sir Laurie Bristow out of the country.

It had previously been intended he should remain in a secure location at Kabul airport along with other international diplomats.

But amid a hurried scramble for safety, helicopters were seen landing at the US embassy to ferry away remaining personnel.

Former UK ambassador to Afghanistan Sir Nicholas Kay ‘hung his head in shame’ as he watched events unfold.

There was deep anger among MPs at the way – 20 years after the first international forces entered Afghanistan – the country was being abandoned to its fate.

Chairman of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee Mr Tugendhat said it was ‘the biggest single foreign policy disaster’ since Suez.

Mr Tugendhat, who served as an Army officer in Afghanistan, said the priority had to be to get as many people out before Kabul collapsed.

He told the BBC: ‘This isn’t just about interpreters or guards. This is about those people who we trained in special forces to serve alongside us, those who helped us to understand the territory through our agencies and our diplomats.

‘This is the people who, on our encouragement, set up schools for girls. These people are all at risk now.

‘The real danger is that we are going to see every female MP murdered, we are going to see ministers strung up on street lamps.’

He also tweeted over the weekend: The decision to withdraw is like a rug pulled from under the feet of our partners.

‘No air support, none of the maintenance crews able to service their equipment – that was done by US contractors, now gone.

‘That means battle winning technology we had taught the Afghans to rely on is useless.

‘Billions of dollars of assets, wasted. Instead of a sustainable peace, incrementally building, we’re seeing a rout. Of course we are.’

Meanwhile Defence Committee chairman Tobias Ellwood said it was a humiliation for the West.

Despite the decision of the US to withdraw their remaining troops which triggered the collapse, Mr Ellwood said it was still not too late to turn the situation around.

He called for the despatch of the Royal Navy carrier strike group to the region and urged the PM to convene an emergency conference of ‘like-minded nations’.

He told Times Radio: ‘I plead with the Prime Minister to think again. We have an ever-shrinking window of opportunity to recognise where this country is going as a failed state.

‘We can turn this around but it requires political will and courage. This is our moment to step forward.

‘We could prevent this, otherwise history will judge us very, very harshly in not stepping in when we could do and allowing the state to fail.’

Mr Mercer told Sky News: ‘it’s been a real miscalculation by the UK and US as to how quickly this was going to happen.

‘Afghanistan is a very difficult place and there’s no predictability to this but the firmness from statements from Biden and here… it’s humiliating to watch.

‘For those of us who are trying to get people out, you know it’s pretty hopeless at the moment.’

Former defence and foreign secretary Philip Hammond said the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan was a ‘strategic miscalculation’.

He told Times Radio: ‘It’s a terrible disappointment that after the huge toll of blood and gold that we’ve poured into Afghanistan, we end up in a situation where within weeks of foreign troops departing, the Afghan security forces have apparently collapsed almost completely, and the country is back in the hands of the Taliban.’

Rory Stewart, a former international development secretary, said ‘we are going to end up with terrorists’ as a result of the Taliban regaining its grip over the country.

Stewart, who was also chair of Westminster’s defence select committee, condemned Biden’s decision to withdraw US troops last month with little warning.

He said: ‘Biden has propagated the most shameful, unnecessary betrayal. He has done it recklessly, with no planning in place, with no transition in place, with just no thought.

‘Essentially, it would be like taking a young person into your home, promising that you were going to look after them, care for them and turn their life around, and then suddenly at a moment’s notice throwing them out and locking the door.

‘You can imagine the sense of betrayal, disillusionment and despair amongst Afghans.

‘Millions of them have worked with us, believing that together we were going to create this society we talked about.

‘Yes, there are the Taliban and, yes, there are many problems, but there are also millions of incredibly good-hearted Afghans who put energy and courage into trying to turn their country around.

‘And it wasn’t costing us very much to keep that project going. By the end, all it took was 2,500 troops and a bit of air support to keep the country relatively stable, keep people going to school, keep all those opportunities alive. And we just cut the legs off the whole thing at a moment’s notice.’

Mr Raab broke his silence on the issue on Sunday as he flew back to Britain from a foreign visit – which the FCDO refused to say where.

He tweeted: ‘Shared my deep concerns about the future for Afghanistan with FM Qureshi.

‘Agreed it is critical that the international community is united in telling the Taliban that the violence must end and human rights must be protected.’

Asked where Mr Raab had been, an FCDO spokesman said: ‘The Foreign Secretary is personally overseeing the FCDO response, and engaging with international partners. He is returning to the UK today, given the situation.’

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the situation in Afghanistan was ‘deeply shocking’ and had earlier called on the Government to recall Parliament.

He said: ‘We need Parliament recalled so the Government can update MPs on how it plans to work with allies to avoid a humanitarian crisis and a return to the days of Afghanistan being a base for extremists whose purpose will be to threaten our interests, values and national security.’

Earlier Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said when the US said it would withdraw, he had approached other allies about taking their place but none was willing to do so.

Writing in The Sunday Telegraph, he said it was ‘arrogant’ to think the UK – which is also pulling out its troops – could resolve the situation unilaterally.

He said a unilateral force would very quickly be viewed as an occupying force and, no matter how powerful the country that sends it, history shows us what happens to them in Afghanistan.

Britain is sending 600 troops – including Paras from 16 Air Assault Brigade – on a mission to support the final departure of the remaining UK nationals as well as Afghans who worked with the UK in the country.

But the crisis has threatened to turn the country back to the Taliban as they entered the capital Kabul today.

The militants were seen in the districts of Kalakan, Qarabagh and Paghman hours after taking control of Jalalabad, the most recent major Afghan city to fall.

A Taliban spokesman said they were looking for a ‘peaceful surrender’ of the capital after meeting little resistance.

They said: ‘We don’t want a single, innocent Afghan civilian to be injured or killed as we take charge of Kabul but we have not declared a ceasefire.’

The terror group added they do not intend to take Kabul ‘by force’ after entering the outskirts of the city. 

An official earlier said Jalalabad fell under Taliban control without a fight on Sunday when the governor surrendered, saying it was ‘the only way to save civilian lives’.

Its fall has also given the Taliban control of a road leading to the Pakistan city of Peshawar, one of the main highways into landlocked Afghanistan.   

Besides Kabul, just seven other provincial capitals out of the country’s 34 are yet to fall to the Taliban after the military failed to stave off their attacks. 

The Taliban are now closing in on the capital from all sides, controlling territories to the North, South, East and West and advancing to just seven miles south of the city. 

Hoda Ahmadi, a lawmaker from Logar province, said the Taliban have reached the Char Asyab district on the outskirts of the capital.

A US defence official warned it could be only a matter of days before the insurgent fighters take control of Kabul.

Just last week, US intelligence estimates expected the city to be able to hold out for at least three months.

As the Taliban advance accelerates, the US is scrambling to evacuate more than 10,000 American citizens from the capital.

Officials are said to be trying to strike a deal for Taliban fighters not to descend on Kabul until the US can pull everyone out.

But a senior US official told the New York Times the Taliban have warned the country it must cease airstrikes or else its extremist fighters will move in.

Joe Biden has vowed that any action that puts Americans at risk ‘will be met with a swift and strong US military response.’