LONDON, May 24 (Xinhua) -- The withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) Armed Forces and their local support personnel from Afghanistan last year was a "disaster" and there had been "systemic failures" of intelligence, diplomacy and planning, an inquiry by members of Parliament (MPs) has found.
"The UK government failed adequately to shape or respond to Washington's decision to withdraw, to predict the speed of the Taliban's takeover, or to plan and prepare for the evacuation of our Afghan partners," said a report published by the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Commons (lower house of Parliament) on Tuesday.
The committee said it had lost confidence in Philip Barton, permanent under-secretary in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, and urged him to "consider his position."
U.S.-led coalition of international forces completed withdrawal from Afghanistan on Aug. 30, 2021, ending a 20-year occupation.
Claiming to be in pursuit of Osama bin Laden, the alleged mastermind of the 9/11 terror attacks in 2001, the U.S.-led military forces invaded Afghanistan, causing more than 30,000 civilian deaths, injuring more than 60,000 and resulting in estimated 11 million refugees.
In February 2020, then U.S. President Donald Trump signed a withdrawal deal from Afghanistan with the Taliban. Concurrent with the exit of the coalition of forces, the Taliban quickly regained control of Afghanistan in mid-August last year. ■