LONDON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th August, 2021) UK Labour lawmaker and shadow defense minister John Healey said on Wednesday that the Conservative government was "totally unprepared" for the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan and the Taliban (designated terrorist by the UN and Russia) takeover, despite having enough time to foresee the current crisis.
"The government has been totally unprepared for the withdrawal of US troops which we'd known was coming this year for 18 months, and totally unprepared for the Taliban takeover which they expected," Healey told Sky news broadcaster.
After claiming that the current crisis the UK is facing is part of a "deeper problem of dereliction of the basic duties of government," the opposition lawmaker argued that there have been no evidence of Prime Minister Boris Johnson trying to influence the US withdrawal plan before Tuesday's virtual G7 meeting or make necessary arrangements on aid, refugees or counterterrorism.
"All those calls have been made by Boris Johnson after Kabul had fallen, the critical time. We've been the president of the G7 since January and yesterday was the first time that Boris Johnson convened a meeting of those leading world powers to discuss Afghanistan," he stressed.
Healey suggested putting in place a plan through the United Nations, with the support of G7 and "regional powers" like Russia, China and Pakistan to deal with Afghan refugees and set tough conditions for the Taliban to make sure Afghanistan does not return to being a haven for terrorism.
Following a weeks-long offensive launched after the US started withdrawing forces from Afghanistan, the Taliban entered Kabul on August 15 and caused the civilian government to fall. This prompted thousands of locals to seek escape for fear of reprisals from the militants. Many countries have since begun evacuating their diplomatic missions and citizens from the Central Asian nation.
There are fears, however, that a large number of Afghan nationals who worked for the US-led coalition over the last 20 years will be left behind once the American withdrawal is completed on August 31.
