UK starts to bring troops home as Kabul airlift winds down

LONDON – Britain began bringing troops location from Afghanistan arsenic the country’s evacuation cognition astatine Kabul airdrome wound down Saturday, and the U.K.’s apical subject serviceman acknowledged, “We haven’t been capable to bring everybody out.”

A Royal Air Force level carrying U.K. diplomatic unit and soldiers landed astatine the RAF Brize Norton airbase northwest of London aboriginal Saturday morning. The troops from the 16 Air Assault Brigade were portion of a contingent of 1,000 British soldiers based successful Kabul to assistance tally the airlift.

Flights bringing U.K. citizens and Afghan civilians from the Afghan superior person mostly ended, though the caput of the British equipped forces, Gen. Nick Carter, said determination would beryllium a “very few” much connected Saturday.

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Britain says it has evacuated much than 14,500 radical from Kabul successful the past 2 weeks but that arsenic galore arsenic 1,000 Afghans entitled to travel to the U.K. person been near behind.

“We haven’t been capable to bring everybody out, and that has been heartbreaking, and determination person been immoderate precise challenging judgments that person had to beryllium made connected the ground,” Carter told the BBC.

Foreign nationals from astir the satellite and citizens of Afghanistan who worked with them person sought to permission the state since the Taliban’s swift takeover this period successful the aftermath of the departure of astir U.S. forces. More than 100,000 person been evacuated done Kabul airport, according to American officials.

The desperate, chaotic exodus turned deadly connected Thursday, erstwhile a termination bomber struck crowds gathered adjacent the airport. The onslaught killed 169 Afghans, according to a preliminary count, and 13 American troops. Two British citizens and the kid of different Briton besides were among the radical killed.

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In London, Afghans came to the Afghanistan and Central Asian Association proposal center, hopeless for quality of friends and relatives.

Saraj Deen Safi said helium had been incapable to marque interaction with relatives who were adjacent Kabul airdrome since Thursday’s weaponry attack. He said helium hoped they would beryllium capable to scope a harmless European country, but helium felt “despaired” astatine the deficiency of news.

While the U.K. has evacuated thousands of erstwhile interpreters and others who worked with British forces, the proposal programme coordinator for the London association, Shabnam Nasimi, said she was “devastated” for galore others.

“There are galore others who indirectly supported our enactment determination to bring astir ideology and escaped code and a overmuch amended nine for Afghanistan,” Nasimi said. “And the information we haven’t recognized that and present abandoned those people. And these see journalists and judges, for instance, who are straight going to beryllium targeted by the Taliban."

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“The aboriginal of these individuals is precise bleak,” she said.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised Friday to “shift eden and earth” to get much radical from Afghanistan to Britain by different means, though nary factual details person been offered.

U.K. officials anticipation immoderate radical whitethorn beryllium capable to permission Afghanistan overland for neighboring countries, wherever their claims to travel to the U.K. could beryllium processed. That volition beryllium connected diplomatic coordination and practice — not slightest from the Taliban.

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Associated Press video writer Jo Kearney contributed to this story.

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