UK's evacuation flights from Afghanistan may stop this week

UK's evacuation flights from Afghanistan may stop this week
August 25, 2021, 6:24 am

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According to the Sky News, the UK's evacuation flights from Afghanistan may have to stop this week after Boris Johnson failed to secure an extension to a US deadline for all western forces to leave.

The Sky News said the Guardian newspaper reported late on Tuesday that the last Royal Air Force aircraft carrying Afghans to safety from Kabul airport could even be in the next "24 to 36 hours".

According to defence sources described the timeline as speculative and said it was not "set in stone".

The Sky News said, the team of more that1,000 British troops and diplomats running Britain's evacuation mission on the ground will need a period of time to pack up their equipment and depart ahead of the final US exit date of 31 August - next Tuesday.

It means that evacuation flights for Afghan civilians desperate to flee the country after a shock Taliban takeover will have to stop at least a number of days before then.

Ministers have made it clear that the UK cannot remain at the airport without the presence of a 6,000-strong US force, which has been providing security and is also running the airfield.

The Sky News added, officials have also been careful not to talk publicly about exact plans for the final drawdown, concerned about the risk of triggering a new rush of men, women and children to the airport to try to access flights as soon as they realise when they will stop.

It is worth mentioning that more than 9,200 people - British nationals as well as Afghans who have worked with British troops and diplomats over the past two decades but are now in danger - have been flown to safety in the UK since 13 August as part of what has been dubbed Operation Pitting.

Source: skynews

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