The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Afghans free to depart, claim Taliban
The UK Government has received assurances from the Taliban that anybody wishing to leave Afghanistan after tomorrow will be allowed to.
British troops have already left Kabul and US military personnel will be out of Afghanistan before the August 31 deadline set by US president Joe Biden.
But there have been fears over the potentially thousands of Afghans who may have been eligible for resettlement schemes, who could not make it to Kabul Airport for evacuation or were not processed in time.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said yesterday that if the Taliban regime wanted diplomatic recognition and aid funding, they would have to ensure “safe passage” for those who want to leave.
And in a joint statement with the US and more than 90 other countries, it was confirmed the Taliban had said anyone who wished to leave the country could do so.
The joint statement said: “We have received assurances from the Taliban that all foreign nationals and any Afghan citizen with travel authorisation from our countries will be allowed to proceed in a safe and orderly manner to points of departure and travel outside the country.”
It comes after 15,000 people were evacuated from Afghanistan by UK troops over the course of nearly two weeks in Operation Pitting, which is believed to be the largest evacuation mission since the Second World War.
British ambassador to Afghanistan Sir Laurie Bristow, who had remained in the country and relocated the embassy to Kabul Airport to process as many evacuees as possible, arrived back in the UK yesterday.
He vowed to continue to help British nationals and Afghans who remain in the country and still need help.
Speaking on the runway at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, he said: “We will continue to stand by the people of Afghanistan, working on humanitarian, diplomatic and security work, and above all bringing to the UK Afghans and British nationals who still need our support, and we will be putting pressure on the Taliban to allow safe passage for those people.”
Vice Admiral Ben Key, Chief of Joint Operations, who commanded Operation Pitting, admitted there was a “sense of sadness” that not all could be saved.
He said: “Whilst we recognise and I pay testament to the achievement of everything that has been achieved by coalition forces, but particularly the British contingent, over the last two weeks, in the end we know that there are some really sad stories of people who have desperately tried to leave that we have, no matter how hard our efforts, we have been unsuccessful in evacuating.” After official advice earlier in the week changed to advise people to stay away from Kabul Airport due to the threat of a terrorist attack, ministers said anyone who could reach a third country could be processed and flown to the UK from there.
But there were concerns the Taliban would not allow this, amid reports of road blocks.
Among those stuck in Afghanistan was the wife of a British shopkeeper who was killed in the terror attack on Kabul Airport on Thursday.
Zohra Popal, 23, broke down in tears as she described the pain of losing her father, Musa Popal, and begged the government to help bring her mother home.
She said the family feel “ignored” by the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office, which has not made contact since news of his death was confirmed.
Mr Popal, 60, was among three British citizens, including a child, who were killed in the suicide attack.
The attack killed more than 180 people, including 14 US service personnel.
In a video uploaded to Twitter yesterday, Mr Johnson praised the more than 1,000 military personnel, diplomats and officials who took part in the operation in Afghanistan.
He said: “UK troops and officials have worked around the clock to a remorseless deadline in harrowing conditions.
“They didn’t flinch. They kept calm. They got on with the job.”
Meanwhile, three children were killed in a drone strike that US officials said struck a vehicle carrying so-called Islamic State suicide bombers, an Afghan official said.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity out of security concerns.
US officials said the vehicle was carrying explosives and that the initial strike yesterday set off secondary explosions.
The US officials said the bombers planned to attack Kabul Airport.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid earlier said in a message to journalists that the US strike targeted a suicide bomber as he drove a vehicle loaded with explosives.
Two American military sources earlier called the air strike successful.
They said it caused “significant secondary explosions” indicating the presence of a substantial amount of explosive material in the vehicle.
The strike was the second by America since the airport suicide bombing.
On Saturday, a strike in Nangarhar province killed an IS member believed to have been involved in planning attacks against the US in Kabul.
The strike killed one person, Navy Captain William Urban said.