The United Kingdom has evacuated almost 15,000 Britons and Afghans from Kabul in the past two weeks, UK Ambassador to Afghanistan Laurie Bristow said on Saturday
LONDON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th August, 2021) The United Kingdom has evacuated almost 15,000 Britons and Afghans from Kabul in the past two weeks, UK Ambassador to Afghanistan Laurie Bristow said on Saturday.
Almost 1,000 military, as well as diplomatic and civilian personnel worked on the evacuation operation, Bristow said in a video posted on Twitter.
"Nearly 15,000 British nationals, Afghan staff and others at risk have been evacuated from Kabul since Operation Pitting began - our commitment to the people of Afghanistan will endure," the diplomat tweeted, adding that "it's time to close this phase of the operation now."
According to UK media, citing military sources, the last British evacuation plane took off from Kabul earlier on Saturday.
The United Kingdom was initially planning to end its evacuation mission by Friday evening.
The UK embassy in Afghanistan was evacuated after the sudden fall of Kabul to the Taliban (a terrorist group, banned in Russia) on August 15.
