Afghanistan could descend into another civil war if the West fails to “engage” with the Taliban, Pakistan’s foreign minister has told Sky News.
Shah Mahmood Qureshi warned of potential “anarchy” and a resurgent threat of terrorism as he criticised the West’s exit strategy, saying there was a failure to listen to Pakistan‘s concerns about ending the war in Afghanistan and as a result the withdrawal was not “responsible or orderly”.
But he also said the initial statements from the extreme Islamist group have been “positive” and “encouraging”, and he hoped the Taliban would work towards creating an “inclusive government” in the multi-ethnic state.
He said: “One option is engagement as opposed to isolation, you know we’ve withdrawn, let’s wash our hands, we’ve done our bit, we leave.
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“That’s a dangerous option. That’s an option of abandonment of Afghan people.
“That’s the mistake that was committed in the 90s. I would urge the international community not to repeat the same mistake again.”
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But there are huge questions about whether the Taliban can be trusted. The minister said the West should “test” the ultra-conservative hardliners to make sure they were true to their word.
He added that it was in the group’s interest to act responsibly and hoped they had changed.
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Taliban celebrates as last US troops leave Kabul
“They should have learned from their mistakes,” he said. “And I think the attitude and the approach they are taking is reflective of a different approach.”
“What I’m saying is test them before trusting them. They’re big statements but let’s see if they live up to them and if they do, then build on it because the other option is far worse.
“If they’re sensible, they should in my view respect international opinion and international norms. Why? They need assistance, they will be in charge, if they will be in charge they will need humanitarian assistance, they will need financial assistance, otherwise you will see an economic collapse.”
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Will Taliban in power lead to terrorism?
But many Afghans are frightened about how their new rulers will behave.
The country has bitter memories and is fearful of a repeat of what happened when the extremists last ran the country between 1996 and 2001.
As the last American flight left Kabul, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the victory was a “lesson for other invaders”, but emphasised the group wanted “good diplomatic relations” with the US and the rest of the world.
After 20 years of bitter war and then a humiliating defeat, the West is now in a dilemma about what to do next.
But the policy choices are few and none are very desirable: cooperating with a sworn enemy against a potential bigger threat such as ISIS-K, or isolating the Taliban as international pariahs for their brutality and treatment of women.
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‘We succeeded in what we set out to do’
The foreign minister warns the “consequences of abandonment” are dangerous.
“It could lead to a civil war,” he said.
“Things could become chaotic, there could be anarchy, and that will give space to the organisations we all dread: the international terrorist organisation that we do not want their footprint to grow in Afghanistan.”
There is another major issue, a massive, worsening humanitarian crisis looming in the war-ravaged country.
The World Food Programme says one in three Afghans are already going hungry as the nation faces its worst drought in 30 years.
Added to that, Afghanistan is facing bankruptcy as it is heavily reliant on foreign aid, but giving money to a Taliban government would not only be an endorsement, it would also help bankroll their regime.
Pakistan’s government is clear on this issue, though – there is no room for the “abandonment” and the world needs to come together for the Afghan people.
The stakes are extremely high for Islamabad. Neighbouring Afghanistan, it says, already hosts nearly four million refugees and can’t afford another major crisis on its borders.
Representatives of dozens of climate vulnerable islands and African nations have stormed out of high-stakes negotiations over a climate funding goal.
Patience is wearing thin and negotiations have boiled over at the COP29 climate talks in Azerbaijan, which were due to finish yesterday but are now well into overtime.
After two weeks of talks, the more than 190 countries gathered in the capital Baku are still trying to agree a new financial settlement to channel money to poorer countries to both curb and adapt to climate change.
Talks have now run well into overtime at COP29, but a deal now feels much more precarious.
The least developed countries like Mozambique and low-lying island nations like Samoa say their calls for a portion of the fund to be allocated to them have been ignored.
Samoa’s minister of natural resources and environment Toeolesulusulu Cedric Schuster is one of the representatives who walked out.
“We are here to negotiate but we have walked out… at the moment we don’t feel we are being heard in there,” he said on behalf of more than 40 small island and developing states, whose shorelines are being lost to rising sea levels.
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Shortly after he made a veiled threat of leaving COP29 altogether, saying: “We want nothing more than to continue to engage, but the process must be INCLUSIVE.
“If this cannot be the case, it becomes very difficult for us to continue our involvement here at COP29.”
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Evans Njewa, who chairs a group of more than 40 least developed countries, said the current deal is “unacceptable for us. We need to speak to other developing countries and decide what to do.”
The last official draft on Friday pledged $250bn a year annually by 2035.
This is more than double the previous goal of $100bn set 15 years ago, but nowhere near the annual $1.3trn that experts say is needed.
Sky News understands some developed countries like the UK were this morning willing to bump up the goal to $300bn.
Developing countries are angry not just about the finance negotiations, but also on how to make progress on a pledge from last year to “transition away from fossil fuels”.
A group of oil and producing countries, spearheaded by Saudi Arabia, have tried to dilute that language, while the UK and island state are among those that have fought to keep it in.
Mr Schuster said all things being negotiated contain a “deplorable lack of substance”.
He added: “We need to see progress and follow up on the transition away from fossil fuels that we agreed last year. We have been asked to forget all about that at this COP, as though we are not in a critical decade and as though the 1.5C limit is not in peril.”
“We need to be shown the regard which our dire circumstances necessitate.”
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.
At least 11 people have been killed and 63 injured in an Israeli strike on central Beirut, Lebanese authorities have said.
Lebanon‘s health ministry said the death toll could rise as emergency workers dug through the rubble looking for survivors. DNA tests are being used to identify the victims, the ministry added.
State-run National News Agency (NNA) said the attack “completely destroyed” an eight-storey residential building in the Basta neighbourhood early on Saturday.
Footage broadcast by Lebanon’s Al Jadeed station also showed at least one destroyed building and several others badly damaged around it.
The Israeli military did not warn residents to evacuate before the attack – the fourth targeting the centre this week.
At least four bombs were dropped in the attack, security sources told Reuters news agency.
The blasts happened at about 4am (2am UK time).
A seperate drone strike in the southern port cuty of Tyre this morning killed one person and injured another, according to the NNA.
The blasts came after a day of bombardment of Beirut’s southern suburbs and Tyre. The Israeli military had issued evacuation notices prior to those strikes.
Israel has killed several Hezbollah leaders in air strikes on the capital’s southern suburbs.
Heavy fighting between Israel and Hezbollah is ongoing in southern Lebanon, as Israeli forces push deeper into the country since launching a major offensive in September.
US envoy Amos Hochstein was in the region this week to try to end more than 13 months of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, ignited last October by the war in Gaza.
Mr Hochstein indicated progress had been made after meetings in Beirut on Tuesday and Wednesday, before going to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and defence minister Israel Katz.
According to the Lebanese health ministry, Israel has killed more than 3,500 people in Lebanon and wounded more than 15,000.
It has displaced about 1.2 million people – a quarter of Lebanon’s population – while Israel says about 90 soldiers and nearly 50 civilians have been killed in northern Israel.
President Vladimir Putin has said Russia will ramp up the production of a new, hypersonic ballistic missile.
In a nationally-televised speech, Mr Putin said the intermediate-range Oreshnik missile was used in an attack on Ukrainian city Dnipro in retaliation for Ukraine’s use of US and British missiles capable of striking deeper into Russian territory.
Referring to the Oreshnik, the Russian president said: “No one in the world has such weapons.
“Sooner or later other leading countries will also get them. We are aware that they are under development.”
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He added: “We have this system now. And this is important.”
Detailing the missile’s alleged capabilities, Mr Putin claimed it is so powerful that using several fitted with conventional warheads in one attack could be as devastating as a strike with nuclear weapons.
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General Sergei Karakayev, head of Russia’s strategic missile forces, said the Oreshnik could reach targets across Europe and be fitted with either nuclear or conventional warheads – while Mr Putin alleged Western air defence systems will not be able to stop the missiles.
Mr Putin said of the Oreshnik: “There is no countermeasure to such a missile, no means of intercepting it, in the world today. And I will emphasise once again that we will continue testing this newest system. It is necessary to establish serial production.”
Testing the Oreshnik will happen “in combat, depending on the situation and the character of security threats created for Russia“, the president added, stating there is “a stockpile of such systems ready for use”.
NATO and Ukraine are expected to hold emergency talks on Tuesday.
Meanwhile Ukraine’s parliament cancelled a session as security was tightened following the strike on Dnipro, a central city with a population of around one million. No fatalities were reported.
EU leaders condemn Russia’s ‘heinous attacks’
Numerous EU leaders have addressed Russia’s escalation of the conflict with Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk saying the war is “entering a decisive phase [and] taking on very dramatic dimensions”.
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Russia’s new missile – what does it mean?
Speaking in Kyiv, Czech foreign minister Jan Lipavsky called Moscow’s strike an “escalatory step and an attempt of the Russian dictator to scare the population of Ukraine and to scare the population of Europe”.
At a news conference, Mr Lipavsky gave his full support for delivering the additional air defence systems needed to protect Ukrainian civilians from the “heinous attacks”.