London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Oct 27, 2025

UK to leave small number of elite troops in Afghanistan as ex-MI6 chief warns of likely civil war – media

UK to leave small number of elite troops in Afghanistan as ex-MI6 chief warns of likely civil war – media

The British government is poised to keep a small special forces contingent on the ground in Afghanistan, The Telegraph has reported, after the Taliban made significant ground gains amid the US withdrawal.
Days after the US and its NATO allies pulled out of the coalition's main base in the country, Afghan troops retreated and the Taliban captured swaths of territory, including a key district in Kandahar province. The UK is now reportedly considering the retention of an “advisory group” of elite special forces soldiers in the country.

Citing a former Special Air Service (SAS) soldier, who until recently was stationed in Afghanistan, The Telegraph reported that the group would “provide training to Afghan units and deploy with them on the ground as advisers.” The deployment will be open-ended, they said, meaning the forces would stay “as long as [the government] continue to see value” in having them stationed there.

The decision whether to withdraw all the UK’s remaining 750 soldiers from the war-ravaged country for good or leave some troops behind amid the Taliban’s ongoing onslaught is yet to be made, a senior military source told the paper. UK PM Boris Johnson, who has the final say on the matter, is expected to make an announcement at the National Security Council meeting on Monday.

Earlier reports in the UK media suggested that British troops might exit Afghanistan by July 4 – a deadline seemingly timed with the US soldiers’ pullout from Bagram Air Base, the coalition’s main military hub in the country, located near Kabul.

Officials in the UK, however, were reluctant to commit to a certain timeframe, saying that London “reserves the right” to dispatch troops back to Afghanistan, either as part of a coalition or unilaterally, if parts of the country are overrun by terrorists.

Similar concerns were raised by the former head of MI6, Britain’s secret intelligence service, Alex Yanger. Speaking to Sky News on Sunday, Yanger, who ran MI6 until last September, argued that the withdrawal of the US and allied forces might give rise to the resurgence of terrorist groups, such as Al-Qaeda and Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS). Comparing the current Afghan situation with that which followed the Soviet troop withdrawal in 1989, Yanger insisted that the West should stay active in Afghanistan instead of making “an enormous mistake” by leaving it by itself and letting terrorist groups recover.

"They're on the back foot. But it would be wrong, patently, to claim that they have gone away. And they have the capacity to regenerate,” Yanger said.

The US funneled arms and money to Afghan Mujahideen guerrilla militants who were fighting the Soviet forces in the early 1980s, and who later became part of the Taliban. In April, the CIA even bragged about arming the militants who fought the Soviet army with shoulder-fired missiles, drawing scorn in return.

Blasting former US president Donald Trump for setting a May withdrawal deadline, pushed back by the Biden administration to September, Yanger argued that the US pullout should have been conditional on the Taliban actively taking part in the political process.

While the former spy chief noted that he believes a civil war remains the most likely scenario in Afghanistan, he said that he was still “proud" of what the US-led intervention achieved there, despite leaving a power vacuum behind.

"I am proud of what we have done there when I look at the situation that existed in 2001, when I look at the extent of the terrorist infrastructure and when I consider the damage that could and would have been done if we had allowed that to continue.”

He acknowledged, however, that Western efforts to impose their version of “democracy” on Afghan society had failed bitterly, saying: “I've learnt: the idea that we can create a democracy in our image in a country like that is out of reach."
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
China and Russia Deploy Seductive Espionage Networks to Infiltrate U.S. Tech Sector
Apple’s ‘iPhone Air’ Collapses After One Month — Another Major Misstep for the Tech Giant
Graham Potter Begins New Chapter as Sweden Head Coach on Short-Term Deal
Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa Alleges Poison Plot via Chocolate and Jam
Lakestar to Halt External Fundraising as Investor in Revolut and Spotify
U.S. Innovation Ranking Under Scrutiny as China Leads Output Outputs but Ranks 10th
Three Men Arrested in London on Suspicion of Spying for Russia
Porsche Reverses EV Strategy as New CEO Bets on Petrol and Hybrids
Singapore’s Prime Minister Warns of ‘Messy’ Transition to Post-American Global Order
Andreessen Horowitz Sets Sights on Ten-Billion-Dollar Fund for Tech Surge
US Administration Under President Donald Trump Reportedly Lifts Ban on Ukraine’s Use of Storm Shadow Missiles Against Russia
‘Frightening’ First Night in Prison for Sarkozy: Inmates Riot and Shout ‘Little Nicolas’
White House Announces No Imminent Summit Between Trump and Putin
US and Qatar Warn EU of Trade and Energy Risks from Tough Climate Regulation
Apple Challenges EU Digital Markets Act Crackdown in Landmark Court Battle
Nicolas Sarkozy begins five-year prison term at La Santé in Paris
Japan stocks surge to record as Sanae Takaichi becomes Prime Minister
This Is How the 'Heist of the Century' Was Carried Out at the Louvre in Seven Minutes: France Humiliated as Crown with 2,000 Diamonds Vanishes
China Warns UK of ‘Consequences’ After Delay to London Embassy Approval
France’s Wealthy Shift Billions to Luxembourg and Switzerland Amid Tax and Political Turmoil
"Sniper Position": Observation Post Targeting 'Air Force One' Found Before Trump’s Arrival in Florida
Shouting Match at the White House: 'Trump Cursed, Threw Maps, and Told Zelensky – "Putin Will Destroy You"'
Windows’ Own ‘Siri’ Has Arrived: You Can Now Talk to Your Computer
Thailand and Singapore Investigate Cambodian-Based Prince Group as U.S. and U.K. Sanctions Unfold
‘No Kings’ Protests Inflate Numbers — But History Shows Nations Collapse Without Strong Executive Power
Chinese Tech Giants Halt Stablecoin Launches After Beijing’s Regulatory Intervention
Manhattan Jury Holds BNP Paribas Liable for Enabling Sudanese Government Abuses
Trump Orders Immediate Release of Former Congressman George Santos After Commuting Prison Sentence
S&P Downgrades France’s Credit Rating, Citing Soaring Debt and Political Instability
Ofcom Rules BBC’s Gaza Documentary ‘Materially Misleading’ Over Narrator’s Hamas Ties
Diane Keaton’s Cause of Death Revealed as Pneumonia, Family Confirms
×