Afghanistan: British ambassador home as last UK troops leave
The British ambassador to Afghanistan has arrived in the UK, with the last British soldiers to leave Kabul expected to touch down within hours.
The final flight left on Saturday, bringing to an end the UK’s 20-year military involvement in Afghanistan.
More than 15,000 people have been evacuated by the UK since 14 August.
Vice Adm Sir Ben Key, who ran the UK’s evacuation, said he would be “very nervous” in saying the withdrawal was a success until all the allies had left.
He said it had been a “tremendous international effort” but it wasn’t “a moment of celebration for us at all”, adding that there was a “sense of sadness” at those left behind.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said it was a chance to reflect on the achievements of recent weeks and of the last two decades, such as girls’ education and weakening al-Qaeda.
Ambassador Sir Laurie Bristow, who had been processing those fleeing the country at the airport, was among those who landed at RAF Brize Norton base in Oxfordshire on Sunday morning.
The flight came via the United Arab Emirates and further flights carrying military and civilian personnel are expected later.
Vice Adm Key, chief of joint operations, said that while he “pays testament” to everything achieved by British forces over the last two weeks, “we know that there are some really sad stories of people who have desperately tried to leave that – no matter how hard our efforts – we have been unsuccessful in evacuating”.
Speaking at RAF Brize Norton, he said the 31 August deadline imposed by the Taliban prevented them evacuating more people “who had helped us so wonderfully and courageously over the last 20 years”.
Photos of exhausted UK service personnel in aircraft coming back from Kabul showed how “deeply tired” they were having “given their all over the last two weeks”, he said.
“Some of the pictures that have come back in the last few days have painted a really good impression of just how desperate and difficult those conditions have been in the last few weeks.
“They have been sleeping in rough conditions, eating off ration packs and their sole motivation has been to help as many of the Afghans and British entitled personnel as they possibly could.”
He added that he had the most “enormous admiration” for what they have done.
No 10 said the number of people evacuated included about 2,200 children, with the youngest just one day old.
About 5,000 British nationals and their families were airlifted, alongside more than 8,000 Afghan former UK staff and their families and those considered at risk from the Taliban.
In a letter to the armed forces community, Mr Johnson acknowledged the fall of Kabul to the Taliban would have been hard for them to watch.
He added it would be “an especially difficult time for the friends and loved ones of the 457 service personnel who laid down their lives” during the war.
The prime minister said the UK’s involvement in Afghanistan “kept al-Qaeda from our door for two decades and we are all safer as a result”.
Agencies