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The last British flight to evacuate civilians from Afghanistan has left Kabul, ending the airlift of nearly 15,000 Afghan and British citizens in the two weeks since the Taliban took control.
A spokesman for the British Ministry of Defence said on Saturday that the British armed forces are now preparing to withdraw and will carry a small number of Afghan citizens on the remaining flights this weekend.
“It’s time to end this phase of the operation. But we have not forgotten those who still need to leave. We will do everything we can to help them,” the British ambassador to Afghanistan Laurie Bristol took a shot on the tarmac of Kabul’s main airport. Said in a statement.
Some British troops have already left, and a British military transport plane carrying others landed on an air base in southern England on Saturday.
British Defense Minister Ben Wallace said on Friday that Britain is entering the final hours of evacuation and will only deal with people already in Kabul Airport.
From the beginning of the US-led Afghan invasion, Britain has been on the side of Washington to overthrow the Taliban at the time in order to punish al-Qaeda fighters for harbouring Al-Qaeda fighters behind the September 11, 2001 attacks. More than 450 members of the British Armed Forces died during their 20-year deployment in the country.
Wallace said on Friday that he estimated that between 800 and 1,100 Afghans who had worked in the UK and were eligible to leave the country would not be able to pass.
The head of the British armed forces, General Nick Carter, told Al Jazeera that hundreds of people with the right to resettle in the UK will be left behind.
“We can’t bring everyone out, it’s absolutely heartbreaking,” he said.
“Personally, I may have received more than 100 messages from different Afghans I know…many of them, my friends, would not say it.”
Since the Taliban quickly took over after the withdrawal of most US troops this month, foreign nationals from all over the world and Afghan citizens working with them have been trying to leave the country. According to US officials, more than 100,000 people have been evacuated through Kabul Airport.
On Thursday, when a suicide bomber attacked a crowd gathered near the airport, the desperate and chaotic flight became lethal. Taliban sources told Al Jazeera that the attack caused at least 175 deaths. Among the dead were 13 American soldiers.
At least two British citizens and the child of another British citizen were among the victims.
On August 28, 2021, members of the 16th Air Assault Brigade of the British Armed Forces alighted from a Royal Air Force Voyager aircraft after landing in Britz Norton, England [Alastair Grant/ Pool via Reuters]In London, Afghans rushed to the consultation center of the Afghanistan and Central Asia Association, eager to get news from relatives and friends.
Saraj Deen Safi said he has been unable to contact relatives near Kabul Airport since the bombing on Thursday. He said he hoped they could reach a safe European country, but he was “desperate” at the lack of information.
Although the UK has evacuated thousands of former translators and others who worked with the British military, Shabnam Nasimi, a consulting project coordinator for the London Association, said she was “shocked” by many others.
“There are many others who indirectly support our work there, bringing democracy and freedom of speech and a better society to Afghanistan,” Nasimi said.
“In fact, we haven’t realized this, and now we have abandoned those people. For example, these include journalists and judges, and they will be directly targeted by the Taliban.”
“The future of these people is very bleak,” she said.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised on Friday that he would “turn the world upside down” and get more people from Afghanistan to the UK through other means, but he has not provided specific details.
British officials hope that some people will be able to leave Afghanistan overland to go to neighboring countries, where their request to come to the UK can be processed. This will depend on diplomatic coordination and cooperation-especially from the Taliban.
Prime Minister Johnson discussed the situation in Afghanistan with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday. The two leaders agreed that the Group of Seven (G7) countries should adopt a common approach to any future Taliban government.
“The Prime Minister emphasized that any recognition and contact with the Taliban must be on the condition that they allow those who want to leave the country and respect human rights to pass safely,” Johnson’s office said.
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