UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace fears al-Qaeda* will return to Afghanistan as the Taliban continues to make rapid gains in the war-ravaged country against the background of foreign troop withdrawal.
Wallace signalled that Afghanistan was likely spiralling towards a failed state that could become a breeding ground for terrorists.
"I'm absolutely worried that failed states are breeding grounds for those types of people, al-Qaeda will probably come back," Wallace told Sky News.
The British defence secretary confirmed that Kandahar, Afghanistan's second biggest city, and the town of Lashkargah were "pretty much now in the hands of the Taliban."
Multiple media outlets, including Reuters, quoted local officials as saying that the insurgent group had taken control of Kandahar and Lashkargah on Thursday night. The Taliban also claimed to have seized the third-largest city of Herat in the west following days of intense fighting there.
As the terrorist group's blitz through Afghan provinces and cities continues, the Pentagon has decided to deploy 3,000 troops to the country in order to evacuate US embassy staff. Canada and the UK followed in Washington's footsteps to help their nationals leave the war-torn country.
The Afghan government still holds the main city in the north - Mazar-i-Sharif - and Jalalabad, near the Pakistani border in the east, as well as Kabul. However, as the Taliban captured the key central city of Ghazni, located 150 km southwest of Kabul, US intelligence issued a stark warning: the capital city may fall to the Taliban within 90 days.
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