Afghanistan news: Taliban’s Panjshir victory contested as Blair says invasion was ‘maybe naïve’

Footage coming out of Kabul shows Taliban fighters whitewashing the capital’s walls.

Colourful murals of men and women are being removed and painted over with black and white Islamist texts and quotes from Taliban leaders, in a nod to the departure of US troops.

Windrush campaigners have expressed concern about compensation claimants being “left at the back of the queue” amid the Afghanistan crisis.

Only 412 of the 2,367 claims submitted had received a final award despite the process being open for two years, according to a report by the Public Accounts Committee published, writes our race correspondent Nadine White.

Campaigning group Windrush Lives told The Independent that the Home Office has the resources to deal with both of these issues - if only it were “operating sensibly and in good faith”.

Some more from Tony Blair’s speech now. The former PM warned that “Radical Islam” remains a “first-order security threat” 20 years after the 9/11 terror attacks.

He also urged leaders from around the world to come together to develop a common strategy to counter the menace to their societies.

In a speech to the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) military think tank, Mr Blair, who first committed British troops to Afghanistan in 2001, said that it was clear “Radical Islam” had not declined as a force in that time.

He said its ideology, turning religion into political doctrine backed if necessary by armed struggle, inevitably brought it into conflict with open, modern culturally tolerant societies.

“In my view, Islamism, both the ideology and the violence, is a first order security threat; and, unchecked, it will come to us, even if centred far from us, as 9/11 demonstrated,” he said. “Like revolutionary communism, it operates in many different arenas and dimensions - and like it, its defeat will come ultimately through confronting both the violence and the ideology, by a combination of hard and soft power.”

The Taliban has said it would welcome German investment in Afghanistan and would appreciate help in areas including humanitarian aid, health care, education and infrastructure.

Afghanistan currently faces an economic collapse and humanitarian crisis while donors and governments weigh up how to deal with the country’s new militant leaders.

Germany, acting in concert with the EU, has laid out conditions to resume a diplomatic presence in Kabul and unfreeze development aid, urging the Taliban to respect human rights, particularly those of women.

“The German government could encourage its entrepreneurs to come and invest in our country,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in an interview with the Bild newspaper.

The Taliban would pave the way for investments and ensure German companies’ security, he said. He added the Taliban would be “very happy” to welcome Chancellor Angela Merkel - who is about to step down as Germany’s leader - for a visit in Afghanistan.

The German military evacuated more than 5,000 people from Kabul airport at the end of August, but thousands of former local staff and their families are still in the country. Berlin has promised to get them out.

Germany’s designated ambassador to Kabul, Markus Potzel, has been negotiating with the Taliban in Doha to gain safe passage for them.

As private universities prepared to open on Monday in Afghanistan, the Taliban issued a decree asking all women students to wear clothes that cover their faces and bodies.

The group issued a lengthy document that said women students should wear abaya - a loose-fitting, full-length robe, mostly black in colour - and niqab - a veil that covers most of the face except for the eyes - and must only be taught by other women or “old men of good character.”

Classes in universities have to be segregated by gender and if that is not possible, then the two should be divided by a curtain, the Taliban said.

Maroosha Muzaffar has more:

In this harrowing Twitter thread, The Sunday Times’ Shanti Das lays out the frank reality for British nationals stuck in Afghanistan.

Tony Blair has said he may have been naive to think Afghanistan could have been permanently “remade”, even as he issued a strong defence of western interventionism and values following the withdrawal of Western forces from the country.

The former prime minister, who sent British troops into Afghanistan following the 9/11 attacks 20 years ago, said the chaos that saw tens of thousands flee its returning theocratic rulers showed people identified with western liberal values no matter where they lived.

Britain and Europe must be willing to defend democracy and free expression in the face of religious tyranny and the threat of terrorism, he added.

Jon Sharman has more:

A mountain of guns, ammunition and other equipment left behind by the departing American and British troops in Afghanistan is now for sale in markets.

The AFP news agency has interviewed one small arms dealer in the Panjwai district of southern Kandahar province, whose shop is selling US-made pistols, bullets, grenades, flak jackets and walkie talkiers.

As well as picking up arms abandoned by Western forces, some Afghans have also brought in their own personal weapons to sell off, believing the country will become more peaceful now the Taliban have retaken control.

Another shop in the same market in Panjwai is even selling light machine guns, American M16 and M4 assault rifles, and AK-47s.

But the vendors said only the Taliban’s fighters were permitted to buy the array of guns on show.

A message from the leader of Afghanistan’s National Resistance Front (NFR) has been translated into English.

In it, Ahmad Massoud urges fellow Afghans to “seize the moment” and join the NFR’s fight to stop the Taliban from controlling Afghanistan once again.

He warned that the country’s “subjugated” future is one that will see more people killed, unless something is done.

“For those of you who want to take up arms, we are with you. For those who will resort to protests, we will stand next to you, will join you, and will declare our support with your struggle,” Massoud wrote. “For saving our motherland, we are ready to remain with you.”

Massoud also took aim at the “international community” and blamed Western allied for “providing the Taliban with the ruinous opportunity that helped them gain political legitimacy and entitlement”.

A minister was forced to backtrack after claiming a British veteran who served in Afghanistan had taken their own life – admitting he had made a “deeply embarrassing” mistake after seeing the post on social media.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said it was still looking into the viral social media post shared on Facebook – but officials believe it is likely to be a fake, reports Adam Forrest.

The Independent understands that MoD is still looking into the origin of the initial post as well as double-checking service personnel records. But officials have conducted an initial check through personnel records, and are confident the suicide note is fraudulent.