Withdrawal from Afghanistan: the head of British diplomacy defends himself

British Foreign Minister Dominic Raab leaves his ministry in London on September 1, 2021. REUTERS - HENRY NICHOLLS

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3 min

London, Washington's early support at the start of the US military intervention in Afghanistan, in turn faced criticism of its handling of the withdrawal.

Foreign Minister Dominic Raab tried to answer it on Wednesday before a committee of British deputies.

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With our correspondent in London,

Sophie Miller

At the heart of the questioning of British deputies, a question: why such a debacle when the withdrawal from Afghanistan had been planned for 18 months?

Dominic Raab unloads on the British intelligence services which underestimated the speed with which the Taliban would regain ground.

In organizing the withdrawal, the government was therefore relying on a report predicting a slow deterioration of the situation and estimating that Kabul would not fall before 2022.

Another mistake, according to the British

foreign minister

, the

United Kingdom and

NATO

allies 

believed that the United States could be convinced to postpone their final withdrawal.

On his personal responsibility in this crisis, Dominic Raab managed to limit the damage.

On nine occasions, he refused to give his exact date of departure on vacation.

On the weekend of August 15, as

Kabul fell

to the Taliban, Dominic Raab was on vacation in Crete and made the choice not to return to London.

►

To read also: Evacuation of Afghanistan: criticized, the head of British diplomacy was on vacation

The minister also revealed that he is working hard with border countries to try to repatriate British citizens and allies still trapped in Afghanistan.

Dominic Raab also announced that he was due to visit the region immediately after his hearing, also adding that the UK and its allies would judge the Taliban by their actions. 

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• UK

• Afghanistan

• Diplomacy