The UK’s evacuation from Afghanistan has entered its final stages and no more people will be called forward to the airport for evacuation, the Ministry of Defence has said. It comes a day after twin bomb attacks in Kabul left at least 100 people dead.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said: “It is with deep regret that not everyone has been able to be evacuated in this process.” The MoD said processing facilities at the Baron Hotel, outside the airport in Kabul, had been closed. It comes after two explosions hit Kabul airport on Thursday, killing some 90 people – among them 13 US military personnel. At least 150 people were also wounded in the attack, which the so-called Islamic State group says it was behind. A further 143 Afghans were wounded, and 15 US troops injured as the majority of them were queueing at the airport desperate to be evacuated. Mr Wallace said the UK’s withdrawal “wasn’t hastened by the attack”. Despite airlifting nearly 14,000 people out of Afghanistan in the past two weeks, Mr Wallace said “the sad fact is not every single one will get out”. He declined to give a timeline for the exit of British forces but acknowledged it would come before the Americans withdraw, with US President Joe Biden having set a departure date for Tuesday August 31.
Mr Wallace said: “The narrative is always going to be certain groups, such as IS, will want to stake a claim that they have driven out the US or the UK. We closed the Baron’s hotel almost exactly on schedule. The explosion was horrendous, but it didn’t hasten our departure,” he added.
