The withdrawal of Western troops from Afghanistan will be a big mistake, since this decision may lead to an increase in the military power of terrorist groups, including the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda (banned in Russia). This was announced on Sunday, July 4, by the former head of the British foreign intelligence service, Alex Younger.
He noted that the statement about the full-fledged withdrawal of terrorists is incorrect: such groups have the ability to regenerate, which is especially aggravated in the conditions of available data on the preservation of the positions of radical formations in the vast expanses of Afghanistan.
"I think that if the West turns away from Afghanistan, it will be a big mistake," the former head of the British intelligence service said in an interview with SkyNews TV channel.
Younger pointed out that the "war on terror" led by the United States has caused significant damage to Al-Qaeda. However, the former head of Mi6 referred to the June report of the United Nations (UN) and noted that its text contains information about 500 members of the association located on the territory of Afghanistan. In parallel, the "Islamic State" is becoming more active: according to Younger, the number of representatives of the radical formation in Afghanistan is about 2 thousand people.
Discussing the consequences of the withdrawal of the Western military from the Afghan territory, Younger predicted the revival of terrorist forces and stressed that when the militants return again, they will take into account the experience "provided by history". Britain and its allied countries are under the threat of such a scenario.
According to the former intelligence officer, solving the problem of a terrorist nature requires not only military actions, but also political efforts. He stressed that well-intentioned ambitions to make Afghanistan a country with a prosperous democracy turned into a failure.
"I am disappointed with how we failed — we, the international community — failed to match our ambitions with a proper political plan," Younger shared.
Earlier, on July 2, The Wall Street Journal newspaper, citing sources, reported that the American government is rapidly developing an emergency evacuation plan for employees of the United States embassies located in Kabul, as well as Americans living in the same territories. The reasons for the rush, as the sources of the publication explained, were Washington's fears of aggression from the radical Taliban movement.
On July 3, it became known that the American Bagram air base in Afghanistan was looted immediately after the US military left the territory.
On June 8, it was reported that the United States had withdrawn more than half of its troops from Afghanistan. The Central Command of the US Armed Forces (CENTCOM) noted that more than 50 flights were carried out to export cargo from the country.
Earlier, on July 2, US President Joe Biden said that the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan will not be completed in the next few days. According to him, part of the US military will remain in the country.
