OPERATION KABUL
600 troops sent back to afghanistan to get 4,000 brits out
BRITAIN is sending 600 troops back to war-torn Afghanistan to help an estimated 4,000 UK nationals and former Afghan staff flee, the Ministry of Defence announced last night.
The move follows a wave of attacks from the Taliban, which has seized 11 of Afghanistan’s 34 provincial capitals in a week-long blitz.
Defence secretary Ben Wallace said: ‘I have authorised the deployment of additional military personnel to support the diplomatic presence in Kabul, assist British nationals to leave the country and support the relocation of former Afghan staff who risked their lives serving alongside us.
‘The security of British nationals, British military personnel and former Afghan staff is our first priority. We must do everything we can to ensure their safety.’
Britain withdrew its last remaining 750 troops just weeks ago, with US and Nato troops due to leave by the end of the month.
But with violence increasing, the US is also redeploying 3,000 servicemen and has told all of its citizens to leave the country as soon as possible.
It comes a week after the UK gave its citizens the same advice, and after India pulled its diplomatic staff out.
US State Department spokesman Ned Price said the US would also send daily flights to evacuate Afghan interpreters
and others who are in fear for their lives after assisting the US.
Yesterday, Afghanistan’s government offered the Taliban a power-sharing deal, as the insurgents seized the country’s third-biggest city, Herat.
The strategic provincial capital, close to Kabul, was the biggest prize taken so far by the group. It followed the fall of Ghazni – a key communications hub for the government.
Talks aimed at a settlement have been taking place in the Qatari capital Doha, with the Taliban insisting they are prepared to join a government of national unity. But the US yesterday accused them of attempting to ‘monopolise power through violence, fear and war’, and Afghan vice-president Amrullah Saleh dismissed hopes of peace.
‘This group in Doha is a deceptive facade of a very dark reality,’ he told the BBC. ‘They have not changed but they’ve become savvier in deceiving.’
Unicef said 200,000 children have already been forced out of their homes and 4million are out of school. Taliban
fighters seized government buildings amid fierce fighting yesterday in Lashkar Gah, capital of Helmand province – once held by British troops.
But there was anger as air strikes led by US B-52 bombers and F-15 fighters struck targets around the city. ‘The Tal
iban used civilian houses to protect themselves, and the government, without paying any attention to civilians, carried out air strikes,’ said Afghani MP Nasima Niazi.
Army chief Gen Wali Mohammad Ahmadzai was sacked amid reports
Ghazni’s governor and police chief struck a deal with Taliban fighters to secure their safe passage from the city.
And Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan offered to hold a meeting with the Taliban’s leaders in the next few days in a bid to strike a compromise.
Taliban negotiator Suhail Shaheen insisted his organisation had changed and would not govern with the brutality shown before they were deposed by US forces in 2001.
‘There were in the past some mistakes that we have learned from because at that time we were new to the government,’ he said.
‘To stop the education of women and girls is not our aim. Of course education is their right and it is needed.’
But a Taliban commander in Helmand told the BBC: ‘For some thefts, the punishment is cutting off the hand and the foot, and if someone commits adultery they should be stoned.
‘All this is clearly stated in the Koran. I’m trying to defeat the government and they’re trying to make me disappear. In the end, we will be compelled to kill each other.’