(13 Aug 2021) UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Friday that there could not be a "military solution" in Afghanistan, as the Taliban continued the lightning offensive which has brought them closer to Kabul.
Johnson made the comments after an emergency Cobra meeting on Friday on Afghanistan.
The situation has "deteriorated", Johnson said, before explaining the UK was working to ensure UK embassy staff and Afghan nationals who worked with the British will return to the UK as part of a pull out.
Johnson said "the UK can be extremely proud of what has been done in Afghanistan over the last 20 years".
In the last 24 hours, the country's second- and third-largest cities - Herat in the west and Kandahar in the south - have fallen to the insurgents, as has the capital of the southern province of Helmand, where American, British and NATO forces fought some of the bloodiest battles of the conflict.
The blitz through the Taliban's southern heartland means the insurgents now hold half of Afghanistan's 34 provincial capitals and control more than two-thirds of the country.
The UK Prime Minister pointed out the combat mission ended in 2014, and said it was in part thanks to the armed services' efforts in Afghanistan that there haven't been al-Qaeda attacks against the West "for a very long time".
Johnson also noted "millions of girls and young women" have been educated in Afghanistan "thanks to the efforts of the UK and British Armed Services".
Johnson said "we've got to be realistic" when considering a military solution in Afghanistan, but said the UK would work with its international partners to ensure the country doesn't become a "breeding ground for terror".
"We are going to use our diplomatic, our political, our overseas development aid budget leverage to make sure that we exert what pressure we can," Johnson said.
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