The G7 calls for an international joint mission to curb the Afghan crisis

LONDON, Aug 19 (Reuters) – G7 foreign ministers on Thursday urged the international community to join in their response to the crisis in Afghanistan to prevent it from escalating, the British foreign minister said. ‘Foreign Affairs, Dominic Raab, in a statement.

Taliban militants took control over the weekend in a disorder that sent thousands of Afghan civilians and military allies fleeing for security. Many fear a return to the austere interpretation of Islamic law imposed during the previous Taliban government that ended twenty years ago.

“G7 ministers call on the international community to meet with a shared mission to prevent the escalation of the crisis in Afghanistan,” Raab’s statement said after a meeting of foreign ministers of the G7.

Britain currently holds the rotating leadership of the G7, which also includes the United States, Italy, France, Germany, Japan and Canada.

“The crisis in Afghanistan requires an international response that includes an intensive compromise on the critical issues facing Afghanistan and the region: with the most affected Afghans, the parties to the conflict, the UN Security Council, the G20, international donors and Afghanistan’s regional neighbors, ”the statement said.

The UK said on Wednesday it would double its humanitarian and development aid to Afghanistan to £ 286 million ($ 390 million) this year.

Karen Pierce, the UK’s ambassador to the United States, said Britain wanted to use a meeting of G7 leaders next week to find out “how to preserve the gains we have made and how to prevent it from becoming a breeding ground.”

Pierce told NPR’s “All Things Considered” program that Britain and the United States had been in almost daily contact with the Biden administration since NATO agreed to withdraw its forces from the BPR. Afghanistan.

He said Britain hopes to coordinate with partners and allies in any acceptance of a new Afghan government “so that we all work on the same basis, so that we all understand the priority we want to give to the fight against terrorism, to the rights human rights, regional stability and humanitarian problems “.

Separately, Raab said on Thursday afternoon that the UK and Turkey were working together in Afghanistan to ensure evacuations continued safely. He thanked Turkey for its commitment to safeguarding Kabul airport alongside British troops.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Raab in a call that the world should guide and support Afghanistan as it moves towards a new government instead of putting more pressure on it. Read more

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Reports by William James and Kanishka Singh; Edited by Elizabeth Piper, Peter Cooney and Lincoln Feast.

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