US withdrawal from Afghanistan 'accelerated things', says UK PM

LONDON - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Sunday that the US decision to pull out of Afghanistan has "accelerated things", noting "no one wants Afghanistan to become a breeding ground for terror" as the Taliban entered the Afghan capital.

Johnson made the remarks after he chaired an emergency meeting Sunday afternoon to discuss the situation in Afghanistan.

Taliban ordered its members to enter the Afghan capital city of Kabul on Sunday.

The move aims to maintain order in the capital city, Taliban's spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement.

The British parliament will be recalled on Wednesday from their summer recess to debate the government's response to the rapidly evolving situation in Afghanistan.

Britain has deployed 600 troops to Afghanistan to help evacuate British nationals and local interpreters.

British Secretary of Defense Ben Wallace on Friday said the US decision to pull its military forces out of Afghanistan was a "mistake", which has handed the Taliban "momentum" in the country.

The situation in the war-torn country has been worsening since the speedy withdrawal of US-led troops starting on May 1. US President Joe Biden has ordered the US military to end its mission in Afghanistan by the end of this month.