Afghanistan: Sending in British troops not the solution says defence secretary

13 August 2021, 08:53 | Updated: 13 August 2021, 10:24

Defence Secretary: The UK "could go back" to Afghanistan

The defence secretary has vowed to do "whatever it takes" to defend the UK when asked if British troops could return to Afghanistan en masse as the Taliban captures more regions.

Ben Wallace said "every option" is open to deal with the militant group if they were to harbour terrorists in their territory.

But he warned that a military solution was not the way to resolve the country's problems long term.

"I could send 10,000 people, we could go in, we could do it for two, three years, we have the forces to do that but that is not how you're going to fix Afghanistan," he told LBC's Nick Ferrari.

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Asked by Nick if this could see the mass redeployment of British military personnel, Mr Wallace said: "I'm going to leave every option open... 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."

Asked again if the British military would not return, Mr Wallace said: "I'll do whatever it takes to defend the country."

The Taliban was overthrown in 2001 after the US sought to remove Al Qaeda militants in Afghanistan in the wake of the September 11 attacks.

The UK, the US and allied countries have since fought a bitter counterinsurgency campaign against the Taliban. More than 450 British troops lost their lives in the conflict.

However, the militant group has gained ground since the US announced it would withdraw troops before the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attack later this year.

A series of provincial capitals, including Kandahar and Herat, have fallen to the Taliban.