Boris recalls Parl for Af crisis talks

London, Aug. 15: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was on Sunday to hold further crisis talks on Afghanistan, his office said, as he recalled parliament from its summer break.

A Downing Street spokesperson said Johnson had called a meeting of the COBR emergencies committee to discuss the situation, which follows the withdrawal of US-led forces, the second such meeting in three days.

Parliament on Sunday said it had approved Johnson’s request to call back MPs on Wednesday for urgent debate on what Britain, which lost 457 troops in the two-decade long war, should do next.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said on Sunday he had talked to Pakistan counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi, expressing his “deep concerns” and agreeing it was “critical” that the international community tell the Taliban that the violence must end and human rights be protected.

Taliban fighters were on the outskirts of Kabul on Sunday and on the brink of a complete military takeover of Afghanistan, leading to British politicians to call for a last-ditch intervention.

Conservative MP Tobias Ellwood, chairman of the Commons Defence Committee, urged Johnson to “think again” about stepping in. “We have an evershrinking window of opportunity to recognise where this country is going as a failed state,” he said.

“Just because the Americans won’t, does not mean to say that we should be tied to the thinking, the political judgement — particularly when it is so wrong — of our closest security ally. “We could prevent this, otherwise history will judge us very, very harshly in not stepping in,” he warned.

Ellwood said the government could deploy the Royal Navy's HMS Queen Elizabeth carrier strike group to provide air support.