he Taliban Unlikely to change since the last time in power Afghanistan Twenty years ago, retired senior military and diplomatic figures once said.
Gang seized acceptance Two weeks ago, it has been painstakingly emphasized that its attitudes towards allowing women to work and violence have changed.
But the former British ambassador to Afghanistan and the former head of the British Army said they did not believe this was the case.
say Times Broadcast Sir Nicholas Kay, who served as the ambassador to Afghanistan from 2017 to 2019, said that Britain does not need to trust the Taliban.
He said: “I first met the Taliban in early 1995, just after they first appeared in Kandahar. In 1996, about three days after they occupied Kabul, I met them in Kabul. In the past 20 years Here, I have been tracking their progress in some way.
“I don’t think they have changed. You know, I think you also know that one of their strengths, if you like it, is their dedication and power of conviction, and their confidence in what they are doing and their career. .
“What we have seen is that they are more aware of what they should say, and maybe this will translate into being able to actually do some of the things they said.”
But he added that the UK will have to contact the Taliban and said: “We do need to contact them, we don’t need to trust them, we need to test them.”
Earlier, General Richard Dennett, who served as the chief of staff from 2006 to 2009, told the radio: “Over time, we will see a Taliban that is very different from the past 20 years. I am not optimistic. .forward.”
Government ministers have always insisted that the standard for judging the Taliban is action rather than words.
But the former minister of veterans Johnny Mercer Those who had fought in Afghanistan wrote in the Sunday Times that they were “the same group of life-relenting hooligans, criminals, and pedophiles I fought with 10 years ago.”
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “Together with our allies in the United States, Europe and around the world, we will engage with the Taliban, not based on what they say, but based on what they do.
“If the new regime in Kabul wants diplomatic recognition or unlocks the billions of people currently frozen, they will have to ensure the safe passage of those who wish to leave the country, respect the rights of women and girls, and prevent Afghanistan from becoming a global terror again. An incubator for socialism, because it will be disastrous for Afghanistan.”
