Afghanistan

British Military Chief: UK 'Collaborating' With Taliban In Afghanistan

The Chief of the Defence Staff has said the Taliban "have changed" and "we have to give them the space to show how they are going to step up to the plate".

Speaking on Sky News, General Sir Nick Carter said there needs to be caution when "using the word 'enemy'" to describe the group and "people need to understand who the Taliban actually are".

He added that Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan's first elected president from 2004 to 2014, described the Taliban to him "only yesterday" as "country boys".

"The plain fact is that they happen to live by a code of honour and a standard which has been their standard for many, many years," he said.

"It's called Pashtunwali, it has honour at the heart of what they do.

Watch: Who are the Taliban – and why are they so feared?

"They are bound together by a common purpose, which is they don't like corrupt governance, they don't like governance that is self-serving and they want an Afghanistan that is inclusive for all."

When challenged on the Taliban's treatment of women and girls, Sir Nick said we need to "listen to what they are saying at the moment".

"I think they recognise that over the course of the last 20 years Afghanistan has evolved," he said.

Watch: Afghanistan – UK forces working with Taliban to evacuate UK nationals and Afghan staff.

He added the Taliban "recognise the fundamental role that women have played in that evolution" and "at the moment, will undoubtedly say that they want to respect women's rights under Islamic law".

"That will be a Sharia law, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they won't allow them to be involved in government and in education and in medicine and in those things that they need them to be involved in," he said.

"And whether or not we can work with them will very much depend upon how they treat all Afghans."

Sir Nick's comments come after the Taliban seized control of the country.

Watch: On board as RAF rescues Afghan civilians from Kabul.

Six hundred British military personnel were initially deployed to Afghanistan as part of Operation Pitting to help evacuate British nationals and former Afghan staff from the country.

That military support was increased on Monday, bringing the total number of UK service personnel deployed to the capital city of Kabul to about 900.

And Sir Nick said the next 24 hours could be "pretty critical" in getting people out of Afghanistan.

He said there are "a lot of challenges on the ground" and "we hope to get around 1,000 people out today".

He also said he expected around seven aircraft to head to Kabul, Afghanistan's capital city, and told BBC Radio 4's Today programme "there are a lot of desperate people trying to get to the airport".

"Subject to the situation remaining calm, which the Taliban are working hard to achieve alongside us, the system will work, we believe," Sir Nick said.

"At the moment we are collaborating with the Taliban on the ground, who are providing security.

"They are making sure that the centre of Kabul is very calm at the moment and so far we have not had reports of people finding it difficult to get to the airport.”

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