Afghanistan situation is a ‘humanitarian catastrophe’, says Gordon Brown

Gordon Brown, prime minister from 2007-2010, has described the situation in Afghanistan as a “humanitarian catastrophe”.

Speaking to Sky News’ “Trevor Phillips on Sunday”, Mr Brown said: “I don’t forget the sacrifice of our troops, and part of the reason we were there was to protect the Afghan people, and now we face a nightmare; a catastrophe”.

He added: ”It’s really a moral failure because when children are starving and families are emaciated and where there is no health provision, I think we’ve got a duty to act”.

He said there are self-interests for taking action, such as preventing terrorists from “getting the upper hand again”, as well as preventing heroin from getting to the streets of Britain and preventing mass migration.

Mr Brown said there is also a duty to help children and families from starvation, “before they die in front of our eyes”.