UK military personnel on a flight out of Afghanistan on August 28. /Jonathan Gifford/UK Ministry of Defense via Reuters
UK military personnel on a flight out of Afghanistan on August 28. /Jonathan Gifford/UK Ministry of Defense via Reuters
The UK ended its evacuation of over 15,000 people from Afghanistan on Saturday, but the government now faces mounting criticism at home over the "chaotic extraction" and the hundreds left behind.
"The final flight carrying UK Armed Forces personnel has left Kabul," the UK's defense ministry tweeted at 10:00 pm GMT on August 28, accompanied with images of tried soldiers.
It added: "To all those who served so bravely under enormous pressure and horrendous conditions to safely evacuate the most vulnerable of civilians: Thank you."
But now that the UK's two-week evacuation effort is over, some politicians are starting to raise criticism over the Afghan citizens left behind.
According to the UK's defense minister Ben Wallace, between 800 and 1,100 people eligible for resettlement in the UK are still in Afghanistan.
He added that those people would still be able to resettle in the UK if they left Afghanistan by themselves.
And both the UK and France will propose establishing a safe zone in Kabul to protect anyone trying to leave the country at an emergency United Nations meeting on Monday.
"Our resolution proposal aims to define a safe zone in Kabul, under U.N. control, which would allow humanitarian operations to continue," French President Emmanuel Macron told the newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche.
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Mounting criticism at home
The former chief of staff of the British army, Richard Dannatt, told Times Radio that there should be an inquiry on why the UK government was not prepared for the Taliban's speedy takeover of Afghanistan.
"It is unfathomable why it would appear that the government was asleep on watch," he added. "We've had this chaotic extraction. We should have done better. We could have done better."
The opposition's Foreign Secretary Lisa Nandy said that it was unclear how eligible Afghan citizens will be able to leave the country before asking for asylum.
"It really is an unparalleled moment of shame for this government that we've allowed it to come to this," Nandy told Sky News.
Some criticism was directed at a now-famous story of UK soldiers helping evacuate around 200 cats and dogs from Kabul.
The animals belonged to Paul or "Pen" Farthing, a former marine who founded the charity Nowzad. He and his animals were escorted to the airport by soldiers before their flight out of the country.
But some of Farthing's staff were unable to leave Afghanistan.
The chairman of the foreign affairs committee, Tom Tugendhat, told LBC radio that the ministry of defense wasted its resources when it helped Farthing and his animals.
He added that an Afghan interpreter had asked him: "Why is my 5-year-old worth less than your dog?"
Source(s): AFP
,Reuters