CONSERVATIVE
New Forest East

DEFENCE – WITHDRAWAL FROM AFGHANISTAN & PREVENTION OF INTERNATIONAL TERRORIST CAMPAIGNS - 05 July 2021

DEFENCE – WITHDRAWAL FROM AFGHANISTAN & PREVENTION OF INTERNATIONAL TERRORIST CAMPAIGNS - 05 July 2021

Dr Julian Lewis: What conclusions have our Ministers and strategists drawn from our use of military force from outside the borders of states such as Syria and Iraq that might help to prevent the re-emergence of Afghanistan as a base and a launchpad for international terrorism campaigns like those of Daesh and al-Qaeda following the withdrawal of NATO troops from Afghanistan?

[The Minister for the Armed Forces (James Heappey) [Virtual]: My right hon. Friend knows from our previous exchanges on this matter that we have absolutely reserved the right to counter terrorist threats to the United Kingdom that may re-emerge in Afghanistan. He is absolutely right to point us towards an outside-in model such as that prosecuted from Cyprus in support of Operation Shader. That is very much in the thoughts of those who are planning for that eventuality in Afghanistan.]