Former UK PM Tony Blair slams western alliance for 'abandonment' of Afghanistan

The UK had entered the war in Afghanistan alongside the US back in 2001 when Blair was the prime minister.

Blair reacted for the first time on Afghanistan's take over by Taliban in an article published on his foundation's website.

He slammed the western countries for leaving Afghanistan to its own devices, allowing the Taliban to seize power and forcing hundreds of thousands of people to flee the country, according to an AFP report.

"The abandonment of Afghanistan and its people is tragic, dangerous, unnecessary, not in their interests and not in ours," Blair wrote.

"In the aftermath of the decision to return Afghanistan to the same group from which the carnage of 9/11 arose, and in a manner which seems almost designed to parade our humiliation, the question which allies and enemies alike pose, is: has the West lost its strategic will?"

Blair had been a staunch supporter of US-led military action in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In his article he questioned the strategy of the western powers and argued it would harm them in the long term.

"The world is now uncertain of where the West stands because it is so obvious that the decision to withdraw from Afghanistan in this way was driven not by grand strategy but by politics," Blair stated.

He added: "We did it with every Jihadist group round the world cheering.

"Russia, China and Iran will see and take advantage. Anyone given commitments by Western Leaders will understandably regard them as unstable currency."

Blair had faced criticism for pushing Britain into war in Afghanistan in US President George W. Bush's so-called war against terror and his unwavering support for the increasingly unpopular military interventions in the Middle East.

Despite being Britain's one of the longest serving leaders, Blair had to step down and hand power to his successor Gordon Brown in 2007.

He said the western alliance must "give tangible demonstration that we are not" taking practical steps for engagement in the country and with the Taliban militants which have seized power by force.

"We have learnt the perils of intervention in the way we intervened in Afghanistan, Iraq and indeed Libya. But non intervention is also policy with consequence," Blair stated.

"What is absurd is to believe the choice is between what we did in the first decade after 9/11 and the retreat we are witnessing now."

Blair's comments come as Prime Minister Tony Blair has been criticised for handling of the crisis and that Britain has been too weak to influence events, the report said.