West could face another 9/11 if it abandons Afghanistan again, says Pakistan security adviser
Pakistan’s national security adviser has suggested the West faces another 9/11 if it abandons Afghanistan for a second time.
Dr Moeed Yusuf issued the stark warning as the international coalition struggles to get its remaining troops out of the country, after an ignominious defeat to the Taliban.
Abandoning the country could also cause a mass wave of refugees, Dr Yusuf told Sky News.
Pakistan and Taliban flags are seen on their respective sides at a border crossing point in Chaman, Pakistan
When the Soviets withdrew in 1989 the West turned its back on the region, he said, and allowed it to become a safe haven for terrorists.
Pakistan has not yet recognised the Taliban but is urging the international community to “engage” to avoid a security vacuum.
Dr Yusuf said now is the time for the world to listen and come together to avoid the mistakes of the past.
“If there’s no money in Afghanistan, if there’s no governance, if ISIS-K and al Qaeda and others take root, what do you think will happen?
Western leaders may have no option but to accept the Taliban as the new leaders of Afghanistan Pic: AP
“And by the way let me also tell you, this will not be constrained to the region. I read somewhere, I think one statement came out, that the migration problem should be limited to the region, it won’t.
“Migrants will flow, terrorism will flow and none of us want that so let’s not make that mistake again.
“The dangers of abandonment, which came about in the 1990s, there was a breakdown of law and order, there was a breakdown of security, there were international terrorists who took route, there was an economic crisis, there was a governance problem and at the end of the day there was 911.”
There hasn’t yet been a huge flood of refugees out of the country, but hundreds of thousands have been internally displaced and the dangers are already there for that humanitarian situation to worsen rapidly.
Afghan refugees arriving in Virginia, US after fleeing their homeland Pic: Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via AP Images
Thursday’s horrific attack by ISIS Khorasan at the airport illustrates what is at stake.
Pakistan’s government claims by working with the Taliban rather than isolating them they can maintain security in the country and prevent Afghanistan from descending into civil war as it did in the past.
Islamabad is on the front foot of a PR blitz trying to make its case at a time when many western capitals see it as one of the reasons the nation building project failed over the last 20 years.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Sky’s Adam Parsons reports from Ramstein Air Base in Germany, where thousands of Afghan refugees are waiting to be flown to the US to start new lives
The country stands accused of playing a “double game” – appearing as a staunch ally while at the same time sponsoring the militant group and providing sanctuary and support.
The reason for this duplicity, it’s claimed, is that Pakistan has an interest in seeing Islamist rulers – not a democratic government – in Kabul as a way of increasing strategic depth and influence in its perpetual fight against its powerful neighbour India to the east.
But the Pakistani government claims these accusations are “not based in reality” and it is being used as a “scapegoat” for the failures and miscalculations of others.
The argument it makes is that there was never a military solution to Afghanistan in the first place and such a victory was therefore illusory.
Taliban fighters stand guard at a checkpoint in the Wazir Akbar Khan neighborhood in Kabul. Pic: AP
It also claims that after Afghanistan it is the biggest victim of the so called war on terror with as many as 80,000 dead and two million people internally displaced.
And the reality is that the West will most likely have to recognise the new bearded rulers in Kabul.
In microcosm we have already seen that play out with international forces humiliatingly having to coordinate with the group during the airlift.
And then there is the bigger question – engage with the Taliban, or not to stop groups like ISIS from becoming stronger in the region?
Both are extreme Sunni Islamist militants but there is great enmity between them.
Pakistan certainly believes that our enemy of 20 years may, in that fight, turn out to be our friend.
The COP29 climate talks have reached a last ditch deal on cash for developing countries, pulling the summit back from the brink of collapse after a group of countries stormed out of a negotiating room earlier.
The slew of deals finally signed off in the small hours of Sunday morning in Azerbaijan includes one that proved hardest of all – one about money.
Eventually the more than 190 countries in Baku agreed a target for richer polluting countries such as the UK, EU and Japan to drum up $300bn a year by 2035 to help poorer nations both curb and adapt to climate change.
It is a far cry from the $1.3trn experts say is needed, and from the $500bn that vulnerable countries like Uganda had said they would be willing to accept.
But in the end they were forced to, knowing they could not afford to live without it, nor wait until next year to try again, when a Donald Trump presidency would make things even harder.
Bolivia’s lead negotiator Diego Pacheco called it an “insult”, while the Marshall Islands’ Tina Stege said it was “not nearly enough, but it’s a start”.
UN climate chief Simon Stiell said: “This new finance goal is an insurance policy for humanity, amid worsening climate impacts hitting every country.
“No country got everything they wanted, and we leave Baku with a mountain of work still to do. So this is no time for victory laps.”
The funding deal was clinched more than 24 hours into overtime, and against what felt like all the odds.
The talks were rocked from the start by the incoming presidency of climate denier Mr Trump, the moment Argentina’s team were recalled back to Buenos Aires by their right-wing president and a controversial letter that sent shockwaves through the United Nations.
Pic: AP
The fraught two weeks of negotiations pitted the anger of developing countries who are footing the bill for more dangerous weather that they did little to cause, against the tight public finances of rich countries.
A relieved Juan Carlos Monterrey Gomez, climate envoy for Panama, said there is “light at the end of the tunnel”.
Just hours ago, the talks almost fell apart as furious vulnerable nations stormed out of negotiations in frustration over that elusive funding goal.
They were also angry with oil and gas producing countries, who stood accused of trying to dilute aspects of the deal on cutting fossil fuels.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Climate-vulnerable nations storm out of talks
The UN talks work on consensus, meaning everyone has to agree for a deal to fly.
A row over how to follow up on last year’s pledge to “transition away from fossil fuels” was left unresolved and punted into next year, following objections from Chile and Switzerland for being too weak.
A draft deal simply “reaffirmed” the commitment but did not dial up the pressure in the way the UK, EU, island states and many others here wanted.
Saudi Arabia fought the hardest against any step forward on cutting fossil fuels, the primary cause of climate change that is intensifying floods, drought and fires around the world.
Governments did manage to strike a deal on carbon markets at COP29, which has been 10 years in the making and will allow countries to trade emissions cuts.
‘Not everything we wanted’
👉 Tap here to follow the Sky News Daily wherever you get your podcasts 👈
The UK’s energy secretary, Ed Miliband, said the deal is “not everything we or others wanted”, but described it as a “step forward”.
“It’s a deal that will drive forward the clean energy transition, which is essential for jobs and growth in Britain and for protecting us all against the worsening climate crisis,” he added.
“Today’s agreement sends the signal that the clean energy transition is unstoppable.
“It is the biggest economic opportunity of the 21st century and through our championing of it we can help crowd in private investment.”
Protesters at the summit in Baku. Pic: AP
Read more:
Azerbaijan president hails oil and gas as ‘gift from God’
UN climate summits ‘no longer fit for purpose’
The Azerbaijan team leading COP29 said: “Every hour of the day, we have pulled people together. Every inch of the way, we have pushed for the highest common denominator.
“We have faced geopolitical headwinds and made every effort to be an honest broker for all sides.”
At least 20 people have been killed and 66 injured in Israeli strikes on central Beirut, Lebanese authorities have said.
Lebanon‘s health ministry said the death toll could rise as emergency workers dig through the rubble looking for survivors. DNA tests are being used to identify the victims, the ministry added.
The attack destroyed an eight-storey residential building and badly damaged several others around it in the Basta neighbourhood at 4am (2am UK time) on Saturday.
The central Basta neighbourhood in Beirut
The Israeli military did not warn residents to evacuate before the attack and has not commented on the casualties.
At least four bombs were dropped in the attack – the fourth targeting the city centre this week.
A separate drone strike in the southern port city of Tyre this morning killed two people and injured three, according to the state-run National News Agency.
The victims were Palestinian refugees from the nearby al Rashidieh camp who were out fishing, according to Mohammed Bikai, spokesperson for the Fatah Palestinian faction in the Tyre area.
Israel’s military warned residents today in parts of Beirut’s southern suburbs that they were near Hezbollah facilities, which the army would target in the near future. The warning, posted on X, told people to evacuate at least 500 metres away.
The army said that over the past day it had conducted intelligence-based strikes on Hezbollah targets in Dahiyeh, in Beirut’s southern suburbs, where Hezbollah has a strong presence. It said it hit several command centres and weapons storage facilities.
Pic: AP
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.
According to the Lebanese health ministry, at least 3,670 people have been killed in Israeli attacks there, with more than 15,400 wounded.
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.
Read more:
No 10 indicates Netanyahu would be arrested
‘Dozens’ of Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrike
Meanwhile, six people, including three children and two women, were killed in the southern Gazan city of Khan Younis.
Some 44,176 Palestinians have been killed since the start of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, according to the Gaza health ministry.
The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count, but it has said that more than half of the fatalities are women and children.
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on 7 October 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking another 250 hostage.
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.
World
Mossad investigating disappearance of rabbi in Abu Dhabi in potential terror incident, Israeli PM’s office says
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports8 months agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports3 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business2 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway