Letter.

 Letter Published in The National UAE on 12 Aug 21Can Afghanistan survive without external support?

I write in reference to Thomas Harding's article West is losing the 'Great Game’ for Afghanistan (August 10): it is disheartening to see how quickly one Afghan province after another is falling to the Taliban. The withdrawal of US-led troops from the country after a two-decade-long presence will, quite naturally, have a destabilising effect. The speed with which the pull-out is happening has been bad for the morale of the Afghan forces and many civilians. At the same time, many have taken up the cause of protecting their cities and people against the Taliban surge. The question, however, is whether these brave people can meet the challenge with so little external support. That remains to be seen.

K Ragavan, Bengaluru, India