UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace fears Al-Qaeda will return to Afghanistan as the Taliban continues to make rapid gains in the war-ravaged country against the background of foreign troop withdrawal.

Wallace signaled that Afghanistan was likely spiraling towards a failed state that could become a breeding ground for terrorists.

“I’m absolutely worried that failed states are breeding grounds for those types of people, al-Qaeda will probably come back,” Wallace said.

The British defense secretary confirmed that Kandahar, Afghanistan’s second biggest city, and the town of Lashkargah were “pretty much now in the hands of the Taliban.”

Wallace echoed a number of British and American top military brass, as he warned that a civil war in Afghanistan is imminent. He added that the West must realize that the Taliban is not a single entity but a title for a spate of rival interests.

“Britain found that out in the 1830s, that it is a country led by warlords and led by different provinces and tribes, and you end up, if you’re not very careful in a civil war, and I think we are heading towards a civil war. The Taliban is not entirely a single entity, they break down underneath the title into all sorts of different interests,” Wallace told the BBC.

US defense officials also believe that a Taliban takeover of Afghanistan will allow the notorious group to rebuild and consolidate.

Source: Agencies