UN warns Afghanistan faces 'absolute catastrophe' of famine, homelessness and economic ruin as Tory MP says organisation MUST be brought in to deal with Kabul airport chaos
The United Nations has warned that Afghanistan faces an 'absolute catastrophe' of famine, homelessness and economic ruin, as the Tory chairman of the Commons Defence Committee urged the organisation's 'immediate' intervention before Kabul descends into 'complete disorder'.
Mary-Ellen McGroarty, the UN's World Food Programme's country director for Afghanistan, told the Observer swift coordinated action was critical 'otherwise, an already horrendous situation is just going to become an absolute catastrophe, a complete humanitarian disaster'.
She added: 'We need to get supplies into the country, not only in terms of food, but the medical supplies, the shelter supplies. We need money and we need it now. Delay for the next six or seven weeks and it's going to start becoming too late. People have nothing.
'We have to get food in now and get it to the communities in the provinces, before roads are blocked by snow.'
Ex-Army officer Tobias Ellwood, who together with Tom Tugendhat and Johnny Mercer has been one of the most outspoken opponents of the scuttle, told Sky News: 'If you do want to withdraw from a country you don't pull out your military first and then choose to allow the civilians to depart.
'This is the wrong order in which we've done things, and this situation is simply not sustainable, it's getting worse every single day. The airport cannot manage this and with the terrorist threat growing the chances are the airport will implode.
'What I will say is the United Nations and its agencies must be brought in immediately before complete disorder breaks down. The relationship between the US and the Taliban is very very fragile indeed, the US has frozen Afghanistan's assets, the economy is in freefall.
'Many of the civil servants that help run the country and indeed run the airport have already departed. We require some serious international leadership immediately.'
Afghanistan's Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul has been the focal point for thousands trying to flee the Taliban, who seized power after sweeping into the capital a week ago following their astonishing lightning advance across the Middle Eastern country.
The MoD confirmed that the Operation Pitting evacuation mission is being supported by 1,000 British troops - including Paras from 16 Air Assault Brigade - with nearly 4,000 people repatriated from Afghanistan since August 13.
It comes as the Defence Secretary, in what is likely to be read as a plea to Washington, said 'no nation will be able to get everyone out' of the Taliban-controlled country, with the US president's August 31 target date making the rescue mission even more time pressured.
Writing for the Mail on Sunday, Ben Wallace said: 'If the US timetable remains, we have no time to lose to get the majority of the people waiting out. Perhaps the Americans will be permitted to stay longer, and they will have our complete support if they do.'
Relations between Britain and the US are strained, with Tony Blair - who was in Downing Street when London sent troops into Afghanistan 20 years ago in the wake of 9/11 - accusing Mr Biden of deciding to pull out with 'little or no consultation', branding the move 'imbecilic'.
The United Nations must intervene in Afghanistan 'immediately' before the country descends into 'complete disorder', Tory chairman of the Commons Defence Committee Tobias Ellwood has urged
Members of the British and US military engaged in the evacuation of people out of Kabul, Afghanistan
A full flight of 265 people supported by members of the UK Armed Forces on board an evacuation flight out of Kabul airport
US headquarters of the United Nations in New York. Ex-Army officer Mr Ellwood has called for a UN intervention
In a powerfully emotive article for The Mail on Sunday, Mr Wallace warns that time is 'ticking along, impossible to stop' towards the imminent end of the UK's mission to rescue thousands of Afghans entitled to come to the UK. Pictured: Afghans attempt to get into Kabul airport yesterday
Mr Wallace (pictured right) makes a veiled plea for Washington (pictured left: US President Joe Biden) to delay the US leaving date beyond August 31, writing: 'Perhaps the Americans will be permitted to stay longer and they will have our complete support if they do'
A baby is handed over to the American army over the perimeter wall of the airport for it to be evacuated, in Kabul
A Pakistani paramilitary soldier indicates direction to Afghan nationals at a border crossing point between Pakistan and Afghanistan
The 19th century struggle for power in Afghanistan between the UK and Tsarist Russia was called the Great Game. As the US and the UK pull its troops and the Taliban retake control by force, who will Afghanistan's new leaders cosy-up with? Turkey, the only Muslim-majority member of Nato, could benefit, partly because it can control the flow of Afghan refugees into Europe. The mullahs in Iran are delighted by the departure of the US and will recognise the new Kabul regime. Russia will also be pleased to see the US leave, but has its own concerns about Islamic extremism. China and Pakistan have also made early noises of support, while Qatar hosted Taliban leaders in its capital Doha since 2013. However India is dismayed by the Taliban's victory. Here Michael Burleigh looks at where each countries vested interests lie, and which countries will be happy and who will be angry at the Taliban takeover
According to the Sunday Times, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab - who is facing calls to resign over his decision to remain on holiday while Afghanistan collapsed - is seeking to speak to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to discuss extending the end-of-the-month deadline.
The 900 British troops cannot remain without the logistical support of the 6,000 US soldiers in Kabul and will have to finish the evacuation before that point to allow enough time to secure their own safe exit.
Mr Wallace confirmed there were 'too many people in the airport' on Saturday, forcing the US side of the operation to suspend access. A MoD spokeswoman stressed that neither UK flights nor processing were affected by the pause, however.
US citizens were yesterday warned not to go to the airport amid fears that they might be hijacked en route by militants. The State Department said the US side of the airport would close for 48 hours. The British section remained open.
According to the MoD, 3,821 British and Afghan nationals have been evacuated from Kabul, where 1,000 British troops are based. About 3,500 people are still waiting to be airlifted.
Last night, an MoD source said the announcement about the refugee centres was intended to display 'honesty' about the thousands of British allies likely to be left behind.
While acknowledging that 'no nation will be able to get everyone out', Mr Wallace also announces that a series of 'processing hubs' will be set up in countries neighbouring Afghanistan for refugees who manage to escape. If they can establish their right to come to the UK, they will be flown to Britain.
The MoD is looking at establishing hubs in countries such as Pakistan and Turkey - but, startlingly, is also exploring whether the Taliban might allow the UK to retain a 'presence' in Kabul after the Americans have gone.
There were further worrying reports about the treatment of Britons and Afghans who supported the 20-year intervention who are trying to escape.
Shadow Foreign Secretary Lisa Nandy shared a letter on social media that she had sent Mr Raab about the 'crisis' facing evacuees, as she sought additional assistance for those on the ground.
The senior Opposition figure said Labour MPs had been hearing of people being 'shot at, beaten and raped' while they wait to be called forward at the airport, while the Baron Hotel in the city, where many British nationals are being told to travel to for processing, is being blockaded by the Taliban.
Ms Nandy asked whether NATO allies could put in place a 'military policing operation' at the gates of Kabul airport or within the internal processing zone to protect those waiting.
Sir Laurie Bristow, the British ambassador to Afghanistan who has stayed in the capital to help process applications, said the rescue effort was 'without a doubt the biggest international challenge I have worked on as a diplomat'.
In his article today, Mr Wallace says that the collapse of Afghanistan has been 'an exhausting, worrying and demanding time', and warns that 'the distressing exit of the West will have consequences for us all for years to come'.
He says: 'The Parachute Regiment at the airport are dealing with unimaginable challenges. Public order, overcrowding, searing heat and desperate people. Soldiers trained for war are instead holding babies and co-ordinating crowds.'
The Minister adds: 'Too many people in the airport has meant a suspension of access. I am confident that too will be fixed or mitigated but until it is, the crowds will get bigger.
'And ticking along, impossible to stop, is time. I have said all along that no nation will be able to get everyone out.
'It is a source of deep sadness for many of us across Nato and no one wanted 20 years of sacrifice to end this way. We will do our best to the very last moment. But it isn't the end.
'The Home Secretary and I have been planning the next stage… we will establish a series of processing hubs across the region outside of Afghanistan for those Afghans we have an obligation to bring to this country.'
Meanwhile, The Mail on Sunday can reveal that Home Secretary Priti Patel is scrambling to proscribe the Taliban as a terrorist group amid fears that hundreds of British jihadis will head to Afghanistan to join and live under the Islamist regime.
The Home Office is now looking urgently to ban the group which has avoided proscription so far, even though the Taliban has harboured terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda and killed 456 British troops in Afghanistan over the past two decades.
If an organisation is on the Government's list of proscribed groups, it becomes a criminal offence for anyone in Britain to join or even support it, punishable by up to 14 years in jail.
A U.S. Airman with the Joint Task Force-Crisis Response speaks with families who await processing during an evacuation at Hamid Karzai International Airport
Shocking footage shows injured Afghans bleeding as they desperately try and make their way into the airport
British soldiers desperately shouted for medics and stretchers, as unconscious people were carried away, many being pronounced dead and covered in white sheets
If the situation remains as it is, Ministers fear that British jihadis could join and train under the regime then escape prosecution on their return to Britain.
Sources have told the MoS that Ms Patel is 'livid' that the Taliban in Afghanistan has not been banned already. A source said last night: 'The fault doesn't lie with Priti. It goes far back, as no previous Home Secretary has bothered to ban it.'
A Government source told the MoS that MI5 and counter-terrorism units are preparing for the possibility of British jihadis travelling to Afghanistan.
'Some will go and train under the Taliban and may come back to launch attacks,' said the source.
'Others may take their families with them and live under the Taliban's Islamic government.'
Britain has promised to evacuate about 6,000 UK citizens and Afghan staff from the country, but that is looking increasingly unlikely.
Yesterday, amid chaotic scenes, Britons were told to either go to Kabul airport or the nearby Baron Hotel, where their papers could be processed. But some found their path blocked by makeshift Taliban checkpoints.
Last night, a Briton and his wife told how they came under fire from Taliban militants at a checkpoint as they headed to the hotel. Their driver was injured in the shooting.
As the British man tried to explain to the militants that he was a foreign national he was beaten and threatened.
He told ITV News: 'My wife came out of the car, she was trying to save me and then they start beating my wife as well. They are warning me that if they see me next to that checkpoint they will kill us.'
It comes as yesterday the US Embassy told citizens not to travel to the Kabul airport without 'individual instructions from a US government representative,' citing potential security threats outside its gates.
And yet crowds remained outside its concrete barriers, clutching documents and sometimes stunned-looking children, blocked from flight by coils of razor wire.
Footage has since emerged of pandemonium and violence outside the airport, with US officials reporting that Americans have been beaten by the Taliban as they've tried to reach safety. The White House earlier confirmed that three military helicopters were used to rescue 169 Americans who were trapped at a hotel near the airport.
Meanwhile, Taliban co-founder Mullah Baradar arrived in the Afghan capital yesterday for talks with militant commanders, former government leaders and religious scholars.
Nato yesterday begged Mr Biden not to leave Kabul and urged the US troops to stay at the airport to get as many people out as possible.
Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said: 'The US has stated that the timeline ends on August 31, but several of our allies raised... the need to potentially extend that to be able to get more people out.'
Meanwhile, pressure continues to grow on Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab after new claims emerged accusing him of failing to engage with foreign counterparts on the Afghanistan situation until the Taliban had reached Kabul.
Witnesses told the Times that the Cabinet minister was swimming and using a paddleboard on the last day of his break, which was spent at a beach at a five-star hotel on the Greek island of Crete, as the crisis began to unfold.
Mr Raab was already in the firing line after it emerged he delegated a call about repatriating Afghan interpreters, while away on August 13, to a junior minister, a decision that resulted in the phone conversation with the Afghan foreign minister not taking place and possibly delaying taking them to safety.
And last night he was plunged into a fresh row over his holiday after sources told the Mail on Sunday that he had refused an order by No10 to return from the Mediterranean to deal with the Afghanistan crisis.
The sources said Mr Raab had been told by a senior Downing Street official on Friday 13th August that he should return to London immediately as the situation in Kabul deteriorated, and that there had been 'much gnashing of teeth' when he delayed his homecoming until the early hours of Monday morning.
Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said: 'The US has stated that the timeline ends on August 31, but several of our allies raised... the need to potentially extend that to be able to get more people out.' Pictured: British troops in Kabul yesterday
Evacuations have been underway in Afghanistan since the Taliban took control of the country on August 13 after American troops were pulled from the country
The claim is strongly denied by friends of Mr Raab, who insist that he was assured by Boris Johnson that he could stay with his family until the end of the weekend.
A source said: 'There is no doubt that Raab was told to come back on that Friday. There was then a significant amount of surprise when he appeared on the Cobra on the Sunday down the line from Crete. He must have nobbled Boris and asked for permission to finish his holiday'.
Last night, Mr Raab told the Mail on Sunday that he had enjoyed a 'wave of support', and denied that there was pressure from within his party to resign.
Mr Raab said: 'I've not heard any of my Conservative colleagues call for me to resign, but I have had a wave of support. There is no doubt that, like all countries, there is a measure of surprise at the rapidity of the Taliban takeover.
'But as the Foreign Secretary travelling around the world, whether I am on leave or I'm travelling for work purposes, I am always set up to be able to grip things'.
A close ally of Mr Raab insisted that No.10 had not 'ordered' him to return on the Friday.
The ally said: 'The suggestion was that he should make plans to come back. They said that if things get worse then he needed to be ready to come back at a moment's notice. He then talked it through with the PM and it was agreed that he would came back on Sunday'.
Events in Afghanistan exposes Islam for the backward decrepit religion that it is
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