Afghanistan chaos means West appears weak, says UK minister

British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said on Thursday that fate of Afghanistan after the 20-year war means that the West's resolve is now perceived as weak by major adversaries such as Russia.

Afghanistan war has cost trillions of dollars and caused several hundred thousand casualties but the Taliban are now back in power. Western countries are scrambling to evacuate their diplomats and Afghan staff.

"What I'm uncomfortable with is that we have a world order now, where resolve is perceived by our adversaries as weak, the West's resolve," Wallace told BBC TV.

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"That is something we should all worry about: if the West is seen not to have resolve and it fractures, then our adversaries like Russia find that encouraging," Wallace told LBC radio.

Britain fears that the power vacuum created by the US exit will let al-Qaeda gain foothold in Afghanistan.

"Around the world, Islamists will see what they will view as a victory and that will inspire other terrorists," Wallace said.

Cannot evacuate unaccompanied children

Wallace also said on Thursday that Britain could not evacuate unaccompanied children. He said this when he was asked about footage which showed a young child being handed over a wall to Western soldiers at Kabul airport.

The footage, which Reuters said it was unable to immediately verify, showed a small girl being handed over a wall to British and U.S. soldiers at Kabul airport.

Wallace said the child was passed over the wall as her family was being taken out.

"We can't just take a minor on their own," Wallace told Sky News when asked about the footage. "You will find as you see in the footage I think you're showing now, the child was taken - that will be because the family will be taken as well."

(With inputs from agencies)