Friday, November 22
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BREAKING: Minister for Afghanistan was also on holiday as Kabul fell

The minister for Afghanistan Lord Tariq Ahmad was also on holiday last week as Kabul fell, Sky News has learnt.

Lord Tariq Ahmad of Wimbledon, the minister of state directly responsible for South Asia, was on leave until Sunday, the day the Taliban marched into the Afghan capital.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has faced calls to resign for failing to make a call to Afghan foreign minister Mohammed Haneef Atmar, while on holiday in Crete, which critics say could have been used to seek help for Afghan interpreters.

But it is understood that while Lord Ahmad was on a staycation in the UK and in contact with officials as the Afghanistan crisis rapidly deepened, he was not asked to make the call to Mr Atmar, and was not told about it.

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