GATES SEALED
UK shuts Kabul airport gates with airlift to end ‘in hours’ leaving 150 Brits in Afghanistan stranded with Taliban
AROUND 150 Brits will be left behind in Afghanistan after the airport gates were sealed this morning, the Defence Secretary has said.
Ben Wallace confirmed that 1,000 Brits and Afghans already inside Kabul airport will be the last civilians to be evacuated today.
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It means desperate Afghans waiting at the gates - and any Brits who have fallen off the radar - will not be on an RAF flight out of Afghanistan.
With a heavy heart Mr Wallace said: "The sad fact is not every single one will get out."
He said estimates suggest this includes 150 Brits, but admitted the figure is constantly changing.
It also includes civilians who want to stay in the country such as journalists and aid workers.
Between 800 and 1,100 Afghans eligible for UK settlement under the ARAP interpreter scheme will also be left stranded, Mr Wallace said.
At 4.30am 1,000 Brits, Afghans already processed and officials holed up at the Baron Hotel were rushed to the airport for evacuation today.
Mr Wallace said a few people would be plucked out of the huge crowd swamped outside Hamid Karzai landing strip.
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But from tomorrow the airlifts would move to "phase two" and concentrate solely on the 1,000 soldiers and remaining officials deployed to the Afghan capital.
All Western forces have to be out of the country before the Taliban-imposed August 31 deadline.
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The Minister said: "Our top priority as we move through this process will be the protection of all those involved who are operating in a heightened threat environment."
Yesterday 90 people including 13 US military personnel were killed in two suicide bombings in the Afghan capital, which has been claimed by ISIS.
Mr Wallace branded the bombings "a cowardly, callous and pointless attack" targeting people trying to flee the country.
No Brits were killed, but the Defence Sec said the threat of another attack will only increase as the military presence winds up.
MISSION NOT COMPLETE
More than 13,000 people have been evacuated in two weeks under the British military's Operation Pitting.
It included 8,000 Afghans under the ARAP scheme who served as interpreters and other workers for British troops during the conflict.
This morning Mr Wallace vowed: "We will continue to honour our debt to all those who have not yet been able to leave Afghanistan.
"We will do all that we can to ensure they reach safety."
Eligible Afghans have been told to head to the border if they can for processing in neighbouring countries.
The former UK ambassador to Afghanistan has said Britain must not forget its responsibilities to Afghans.
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Sir Nicholas Kay told Sky News: "We really do need to start to focus on how this relocation of Afghans can continue after 31 August through civilian means through reopening the airport and through cooperation with the Taliban.
"That's the immediate priority but there's plenty of other priorities which I hope will see us engaged in some way in Afghanistan."
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