Afghanistan is tipping into civil war: UK defence minister

Afghanistan is tipping towards civil war and the West must understand that the Taliban is not a single entity but a title for a myriad of competing interests, the United Kingdom’s defence minister says, reports Al Jazeera.

“Britain found that out in the 1830s, that it is a country led by warlords and led by different provinces and tribes, and you end up, if you’re not very careful in a civil war, and I think we are heading towards a civil war,” Defence Secretary Ben Wallace tells the BBC.

“The Taliban is not entirely a single entity, they break down underneath the title into all sorts of different interests,” Wallace said.

The Taliban has captured the key city of Lashkar Gah in southern Afghanistan, a day after the group claimed control over Kandahar and Herat, the country’s second and third largest cities.

‘We could be back’ in Afghanistan if al-Qaeda returns: UK

Britain could return to Afghanistan if the country starts hosting al-Qaeda in a way that threatens the West, says Ben Wallace, British defence minister.

Asked if the UK would ever send troops back to Afghanistan again, Wallace told LBC Radio: “I’m going to leave every option open. If the Taliban have a message from last time, you start hosting al-Qaeda, you start attacking the West, or countries like that, we could be back.”