Britain warns Taliban against terror attacks, says West must try to influence group
Britain cautioned the Taliban on Tuesday that Afghanistan must never be used to launch terror attacks but added that the West must try to positively influence the extremist group who have grabbed power after the US withdrew its forces.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the West would have to be pragmatic in its relations with the Taliban and try to see if it could moderate the new rulers of Afghanistan.
For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
“Our message is going to be this: Afghanistan must never be used to launch terrorist attacks against the West, we’ve had 20 years of success in that regard,” Raab told Sky.
“We want to do everything we can, through the full range of diplomatic-economic sanction measures, to make sure we can use as much leverage as we conceivably have, and I’m realistic about that, to try and moderate and exercise some form of positive influence around the regime,” he said.
Told by a Sky reporter that the Taliban were a “red tag bunch of thugs”, Raab said: “I’m not going to dissent from that view but they are now in power, and we now need to deal with that reality.”
“We want to test whether there is scope to moderate the kind of regime that we will now see in place,” Raab said.
Raab said the position at Kabul airport was stabilizing.
“The position at the airport is stabilizing,” he said.
“The stability at the airport is absolutely key.”
Read more:
Former US President Bush says watching events in Afghanistan with ‘deep sadness’
Top US diplomat in Afghanistan denies reports he left Kabul on evacuation flight
Taliban announce ‘general amnesty’ for govt officials, urge return to work
-
Former US President Bush says watching events in Afghanistan with ‘deep sadness’
Former US President George Bush said he and former First Lady Laura Bush feel “deep sadness” over the events unfolding in Afghanistan.“Laura and I ... World News -
Top US diplomat in Afghanistan denies reports he left Kabul on evacuation flight
The top US diplomat in Afghanistan on Tuesday denied reports that he left the capital city of Kabul on an evacuation flight after the Taliban took ... World News -
Malala expresses concern over Afghanistan, urges world leaders to take action
Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai said she was deeply concerned about the situation in Afghanistan, particularly the safety of women and girls ... World News