Final U.K. evacuation flight leaves Kabul; troops head home

LONDON » Britain ended evacuation flights from Kabul airport on Saturday and began bringing troops home, even as the U.K.’s top military officer acknowledged “we haven’t been able to bring everybody out.”

Britain’s defense ministry said the final flight for Afghan citizens had left Kabul and further flights over the weekend will bring home British troops and diplomats, though they may also carry a few remaining U.K. or Afghan civilians. Britain’s ambassador to Afghanistan, Laurie Bristow, said from Kabul airport that it was “time to close this phase of the operation now.”

“But we haven’t forgotten the people who still need to leave,” Bristow said in a video posted on Twitter. “We’ll continue to do everything we can to help them. Nor have we forgotten the brave, decent people of Afghanistan. They deserve to live in peace and security.”

A Royal Air Force plane carrying U.K. diplomatic staff and soldiers landed at the RAF Brize Norton airbase northwest of London early Saturday morning. The troops from the 16 Air Assault Brigade were part of a contingent of 1,000 British soldiers who have been based in Kabul to help run the airlift.

Britain says it has evacuated more than 14,500 people from Kabul in the past two weeks but that as many as 1,100 Afghans who were entitled to come to the U.K. have been left behind. Some British lawmakers who have been trying to help stranded constituents and their families believe the true total is higher.

“We haven’t been able to bring everybody out, and that has been heartbreaking, and there have been some very challenging judgments that have had to be made on the ground,” the head of British armed forces, Gen. Nick Carter, told the BBC.

Foreign citizens from around the world and the Afghans who worked with them have sought to leave the country since the Taliban’s swift takeover this month after most U.S. forces departed.