UK Foreign Minister Says Intelligence Was Kabul Would Not Fall This Year

Britain, like the United States, failed to predict how quickly the Afghan government would fall, meaning it had not made sufficient preparation for the chaos that would follow when the Taliban seized power.

Britain's foreign minister Dominic Raab said the intelligence assessment was that it was unlikely Kabul would fall this year as he defended Britain's withdrawal from Afghanistan after the Taliban swept across the country much more quickly. Britain, like the United States, failed to predict how quickly the Afghan government would fall, meaning it had not made sufficient preparation for the chaos that would follow when the Taliban seized power. In an emergency session of parliament's foreign affairs committee to discuss the crisis in Afghanistan, Raab said the central assessment of Britain's intelligence service was that the Taliban would only consolidate its control of the country in the months after western countries had evacuated their troops. "The central proposition was that, given the troop withdrawal by the end of August, you would see a steady deterioration from that point, and that it was unlikely Kabul would fall this year," Raab told the committee of lawmakers.