BRITS ON THE BRINK
»»Fears Isis could carry out a suicide bombing »»Troops will be forced to leave behind 1000s
BRITISH troops have launched a final push to evacuate as many people as possible from stricken Kabul amid escalating fears of an Isis suicide bomb attack.
In the final hours’ countdown to a dramatic “Saigon-style” evacuation, soldiers are now carrying “day-sack” rations and minimal equipment in readiness to flee Kabul.
Senior sources revealed there is a “real risk now” of Isis assaulting the evacuation crowds with bombs and follow-up small arms fire.
It means Britain’s 1000-strong force of mainly paratroopers could pull out of Kabul as early as tomorrow and America’s soldiers may withdraw over the weekend.
On Thursday, UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab did not deny that UK forces will soon be out of Kabul – possibly as soon as tomorrow.
But western troops will be forced to leave behind thousands of “entitled evacuees,” facing possible massacre at the hands of the
Taliban once the eyes of western media and military have gone.
One British former soldier, who has been working tirelessly from the UK to rally rescue teams on the ground to help former Afghan colleagues, said: “It is absolutely heartbreaking that we will inevitably leave these people to a terrible fate – we are trying different routes out for our friends but the situation is dire.
“It is clear that the troops will soon be pulling out. It is absolutely not their fault – these people will be left behind because of a dreadful lack of foresight by governments.
“And they are going to suffer appallingly just for having tried to flee Taliban rule.”
The complex military withdrawal will involve lucky final Kabul escapees boarding planes out of Kabul as 1000 troops of 16th Air Assault Brigade take to the air themselves.
Concrete blast walls have been erected around the gates to the airport as soldiers prepare for a desperate Isis attack using multiple suicide bombers.
Already much of the UK’s military equipment has been air-lifted out of the airport complex in a desperate bid not to leave anything behind for the Taliban or Isis to loot.
It is believed officials back in the UK and on the ground in Kabul have stopped taking on new cases of people desperate to flee Afghanistan – except in special circumstances.
The RAF still needs to airlift out of Kabul nearly 2000 Afghan interpreters and other staff who worked for Britain as the evacuation operation enters its final days. They have been assessed as eligible under the Afghan relocations and assistance policy (Arap) and have passed security checks but remain on the ground, it is understood.
As well as those eligible under Arap, an unidentified number of “special cases” may be eligible for evacuation, such as LGBTQ advocates, judges and human rights activists.
But there are thousands entitled to relocation to western countrys believed to be still stuck in Kabul.
A staggering 38 other countries have had people lifted out of Kabul by British forces in the past week.
American airborne troops are preparing to launch a “scorched earth” programme of blowing up, setting alight and dismantling any equipment they cannot airlift out. The US embassy torched cars and military hardware before evacuating last week as officials were keen for no weapons or air-defence systems to fall into terrorists’ hands.
British troops could be forced to leave Afghanistan by tomorrow so American soldiers can pack up and quit Kabul by Tuesday’s deadline.
Raab declined to rule out UK personnel having to leave by the end of tomorrow, following Joe Biden’s refusal to delay the US pullout beyond August 31.
The US President snubbed desperate pleas by the Prime Minister Boris Johnson and other G7 leaders to keep American troops in the capital for longer.
Raab said: “We’re going to keep going for every day and every hour that we’ve got left.”