The UK’s foreign secretary has said there needs to be “wider buy-in” from countries in the region around Afghanistan to exert maximum influence on the Taliban.
Speaking at a news conference in Doha with his opposite number from Qatar, Dominic Raab said an “international coalition” needs to be formed to “exert the maximum moderating influence” on the Taliban following its takeover of the central Asian country.
Mr Raab said: “We need to get wider buy-in, regional countries involved… there’s a lot of countries with a direct stake in what happens in Afghanistan, as well as countries who will feel and be moved by the humanitarian risks and the plight.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab gave a news conference in Doha alongside his Qatari counterpart
“Above all, we need to put a grouping together that can exert maximum moderating influence on what the Taliban does next. And we will certainly be judging them. Yes, on their words. But more importantly, what they’re willing to do to live up to the assurances that they’ve made.”
Despite saying there was scope for engagement and dialogue with the Taliban, he said the UK has no immediate plans to recognise the group as a government.
Qatar’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al Thani said the Gulf state was talking with the Taliban and working with Turkey to see if it can provide technical support to restart operations at Kabul airport, but he was unable to give any time line. Sky News understands this might be weeks, rather than days.
It comes as Mr Raab said he hoped that many of those who had worked with the UK and UK-linked organisations – or were part of Afghan civil society but were not among the 17,000 evacuated from Kabul airport – may still be given safe passage out.
Taliban parade in Kandahar as it showcases military hardware seized during takeover
West risks civil war unless it engages with Taliban, Pakistan warns
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Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab says there is a ‘need’ for ‘direct engagement’ with the Taliban.
Meanwhile, in other developments around Afghanistan:
• Taliban rulers are to unveil their new government, with a ceremony being prepared at the presidential palace
• Prices are soaring, the currency has plunged, shops are closed and the Taliban is struggling to keep banks and essential services running
• Humanitarian organisations have warned of catastrophe as severe drought and the war have forced thousands of families to flee their homes
• The EU has said it is still far from deciding whether it will recognise the Taliban
At the news conference, the Mr Raab said four key points for the future were: stopping Afghanistan becoming a “haven” for terrorists, preventing a humanitarian crisis, preserving regional stability and holding the Taliban to account over its claims it will form a more inclusive government.
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Tom Tugendhat said revealing the document was made on 22 July, before the fall of Kabul, was ‘clearly in the public interest’.
He added that Qatar was a “lynch pin” in dealing with the Afghanistan crisis.
Mr Raab said: “We feel responsibility to make sure that the remaining British nationals and Afghan workers can come to the UK.
“But we are also here and I am here – not just in Qatar but moving on afterwards – to talk to regional countries about how we can ensure safe passage through third countries.
“The reality is, as I have described, we will not be recognising the Taliban any time in the foreseeable future, but I think there is an important scope for engagement and dialogue and testing the intentions and indeed the assurances that have already been made by the Taliban.”
The foreign secretary was anticipated to go on to meet the Amir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani, and his deputy prime minister.
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The foreign secretary would not be drawn on when he started his holiday, calling questions about it a ‘fishing expedition’.
He will meet Foreign Office officials after the British Embassy to Afghanistan was temporarily relocated and is now up and running in Doha.
Mr Raab left the UK hours after he was questioned by MPs in the Foreign Affairs Select Committee on the events in central Asia.
The foreign secretary told the committee the advice from the intelligence community and the military was that Kabul was unlikely to fall this year.
Following his appearance, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace struck back at Mr Raab’s comments, saying in an interview published on Thursday that history shows “it’s not about failure of intelligence, it’s about the limits of intelligence”.
Israel has approved a plan to capture all of the Gaza Strip and remain there for an unspecified length of time, Israeli officials say.
According to Reuters, the plan includes distributing aid, though supplies will not be let in yet.
The Israeli official told the agency that the newly approved offensive plan would move Gaza’s civilian population southward and keep humanitarian aid from falling into Hamas’s hands.
On Sunday, the United Nations rejected what it said was a new plan for aid to be distributed in what it described as Israeli hubs.
Israeli cabinet ministers approved plans for the new offensive on Monday morning, hours after it was announced that tens of thousands of reserve soldiers are being called up.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has so far failed to achieve his goal of destroying Hamas or returning all the hostages, despite more than a year of brutal war in Gaza.
Palestinian children struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Khan Younis, Gaza. Pic: AP
Officials say the plan will help with these war aims but it would also push hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to southern Gaza, exacerbating an already dire humanitarian crisis.
They said the plan included the “capturing of the strip and the holding of territories”.
It would also try to prevent Hamas from distributing humanitarian aid, which Israel says strengthens the group’s rule in Gaza.
The UN rejected the plan, saying it would leave large parts of the population, including the most vulnerable, without supplies.
It said it “appears designed to reinforce control over life-sustaining items as a pressure tactic – as part of a military strategy”.
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More than 52,000 Palestinians have been killed since the IDF launched its ground offensive in the densely-populated territory, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
It followed the deadly Hamas attacks on Israel, which killed 1,200 people and saw around 250 people taken hostage.
A fragile ceasefire that saw a pause in the fighting and the exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners collapsed earlier this year.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to retaliate against the Houthis and their Iranian “masters” after the group launched a missile attack on the country’s main international airport.
A missile fired by the group from Yemen landed near Ben Gurion Airport, causing panic among passengers in the terminal building.
“Attacks by the Houthis emanate from Iran,” Mr Netanyahu wrote on X. “Israel will respond to the Houthi attack against our main airport AND, at a time and place of our choosing, to their Iranian terror masters.”
Israeli police officers investigate the missile crater. Pic: Reuters
The missile impact left a plume of smoke and briefly halted flights and commuter traffic at the airport. Some international carriers have cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv for several days.
Four people were lightly wounded, paramedic service Magen David Adom said.
Air raid sirens went off across Israel and footage showed passengers yelling and rushing for cover.
The attack came hours before senior Israeli cabinet ministers were set to vote on whether to intensify the country’s military operations in the Gaza Strip, and as the army began calling up thousands of reserves in anticipation of a wider operation in the enclave.
Houthi military spokesperson Brigadier General Yahya Saree said the group fired a hypersonic ballistic missile at the airport.
Iran’s defence minister later told a state TV broadcaster that if the country was attacked by the US or Israel, it would target their bases, interests and forces where necessary.
Israel’s military said several attempts to intercept the missile were unsuccessful.
Air, road and rail traffic were halted after the attack, police said, though it resumed around an hour later.
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Yemen’s Houthis have been firing missiles at Israel since its war with Hamas in Gaza began on 7 October 2023, and while most have been intercepted, some have penetrated the country’s missile defence systems and caused damage.
Israel has previously struck the group in Yemen in retaliation and the US and UK have also launched strikes after the Houthis began attacking international shipping, saying it was in solidarity with Palestinians over Israel’s war with Hamas.
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