Lauren Bramwell
Boris Johnson has confirmed all British troops will be withdrawn from Afghanistan as he announces an end to the UK’s official role in the two-decades long conflict.
“The withdrawal follows the worsening security in the country.”
The conflict began in October 2001, following the 11 September attacks on the United States. The US-led bombing of Afghanistan has led to over 450 British troops dying during the mission against the Taliban and fighters from al-Qaeda since 2001. British forces played a major role in combat operations until 2014. During the peak of the war, Nato had more than 130,000 troops from 50 nations in Afghanistan. However, Johnson said the majority of troops returned home in 2014, leaving about 750 troops in Afghanistan.
The US, who held around 2,500 troops in the NATO mission, have announced in April that American troops will be withdrawn from Afghanistan by 11 September, saying it was “time to end America’s longest war”.
The withdrawal follows the worsening security in the country. The Prime Minister defended the decision and said there would “never be a perfect moment” to remove troops. There are fears that the departure of forces will leave the government of Ashraf Ghani vulnerable to a Taliban advance. Whilst speaking to MPs, he continued, illuminating that most troops “have already left” Afghanistan, and that “the international military presence in Afghanistan was never intended to be permanent.”
UK Government Support
The UK government has pledged to support the Afghan state with £100 million development assistance this year. As well as £58 million for the Afghan national security and defence forces, Johnson stating the UK will still support the “development and security” of the country. He also claims this will help preserve the “gains” made over the past 20 years and ensure “their efforts will not be in vain.”
“Britain’s senior general fears Afghanistan going into civil war”
“No one should doubt the gains of the last 20 years,” he concluded to MPs, ‘But nor can we shrink from the hard reality of the situation today.” Johnson said, “Today – thankfully – the situation is very different. The training camps have been destroyed, what remains of al-Qaeda’s leadership no longer resides in Afghanistan, and no terrorist attacks against Western targets have been mounted from Afghan soil since 2001.”
Britain’s senior general fears Afghanistan going into civil war once foreign troops leave. Johnson ensures the situation is now “very different” compared to 20 years ago when the country was “the epicentre of global terrorism”.
The Taliban told the BBC that any foreign troops left in Afghanistan after NATO’s September withdrawal will be at risk of occupiers. The Taliban are currently taking more territory and violence in the country continues to rise. The US and its NATO allies agreed to a deal in which they withdrawn all troops in return for a commitment by the Taliban not to allow Al-Qaeda or any other extremist group to operate in the areas they control.
Featured image courtesy of Amber Clay on Pixabay. Image license can be found here. No changes were made to this image.
Lauren Bramwell
Journalist. University of East Anglia English Literature Graduate. Previously Concrete's Opinion Editor.