British citizens and Afghans left behind as last US flights slip out of Afghanistan

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Britain and America officially ended their military presence in Afghanistan late last night with the final US troops flying out from Kabul’s airport – leaving behind hundreds of citizens and Afghan allies desperate to flee the country now in the hands of the Taliban.

A night-vision image showed America’s Major General Chris Donahue, commander of the 82nd Airborne Division, boarding a military transport as the last US soldier to leave Afghanistan after 20 years of war.

The RAF had made its last evacuation flight on Sunday to give US forces enough time to clear the ground ahead of the deadline set by Joe Biden, bringing to an end a deployment which began in the wake of September 11.

The UK government helped fly some 15,000 people to safety, but stories have emerged of interpreters who helped the armed forces over the last 20 years and even people with British passports stranded behind Taliban checkpoints. It is not known precisely how many people who were promised sanctuary in the UK were left behind.

Some 200 American passport holders are now thought to be living under Taliban rule, with an unknown number of Afghans promised sanctuary – thought to number in the thousands – also abandoned.  

‘There’s a lot of heartbreak associated with this departure,’ General Frank McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command, said on Monday night. ‘We did not get everybody out that we wanted to get out. But I think if we’d stayed another 10 days, we wouldn’t have gotten everybody out.’  

Shortly after US troops left the airport, images emerged of Taliban Badri 313 units – known as the group’s ‘special forces’ – securing the airport while dressed in US-made kit and carrying American weapons – seizing more US helicopters, planes and vehicles in the process.

Celebratory gunfire followed, along with fireworks. On Tuesday morning, senior Taliban figures including spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid gathered at the airstrip for a celebratory press conference – hailing the end of what they called ‘western occupation’.

‘Congratulations to Afghanistan… this victory belongs to us all,’ Mujahid told reporters, saying the Taliban’s victory is a ‘lesson for other invaders and for our future generation. It is also a lesson for the world,’ he added. 

All eyes will now turn to how the Taliban handles its first few days with sole authority over the country, with a sharp focus on whether it will allow other foreigners and Afghans to leave the country. 

Reports suggest many are already fleeing through Pakistan to the east and Iran to the west. The US and UK are still working on arrangements to allow people to be evacuated from these neighbouring countries.

While the international community appears to have accepted the reality of Taliban rule, the UK and US remain willing to take on Islamic State, also known as Daesh.

British forces are prepared to launch air strikes to target so-called Islamic State terrorists in Afghanistan, the head of the RAF indicated as the US-led military presence in the country came to an end.

The group’s Afghan offshoot, Isis-K, carried out the bloody attack on Kabul airport in the final days of the evacuation effort which killed two Britons and the child of a British national, along with 13 US service personnel and scores of Afghans.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the global coalition against the terrorist group was ready ‘to combat Daesh networks by all means available, wherever they operate’.

Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Wigston indicated the RAF could strike Isis-K targets in Afghanistan.

‘Ultimately what this boils down to is that we’ve got to be able to play a global role in the global coalition to defeat Daesh, whether it’s strike, or whether it’s moving troops or equipment into a particular country, at scale and at speed,’ he told the Daily Telegraph.

‘If there’s an opportunity for us to contribute I am in no doubt that we will be ready to – that will be anywhere where violent extremism raises its head, and is a direct or indirect threat to the UK and our allies.

‘Afghanistan is probably one of the most inaccessible parts of the world, and we’re able to operate there.’

The attack on Kabul airport on Thursday has led to a transatlantic blame game, with US sources indicating the gate that was attacked was kept open to facilitate the British evacuation.

According to leaked Pentagon notes obtained by Politico, Read Admiral Peter Vasely, the commander of US forces in Afghanistan, had wanted to close Abbey Gate but it was kept open to allow UK evacuees into the airport.

The Ministry of Defence said that throughout the operation at the airport ‘we have worked closely with the US to ensure the safe evacuation of thousands of people’.

The final US troops left Kabul on a flight shortly before midnight local time on Monday, meeting President Biden’s commitment to withdraw ahead of the deadline.

The Taliban proclaimed ‘full independence’ for Afghanistan after the US withdrawal.     

The departure of American troops means the conflict ends with the Taliban back in power and Afghans deeply uncertain of what the future holds.

In a statement, Biden said the world would be watching how the Taliban behaved.  

‘The Taliban has made commitments on safe passage and the world will hold them to their commitments,’ he said, adding that negotiations continued to keep the airport open and ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid.

He added that he would address the nation on Tuesday and that his military chiefs had agreed the evacuation should not be extended beyond the deadline. 

‘Their view was that ending our military mission was the best way to protect the lives of our troops, and secure the prospects of civilian departures for those who want to leave Afghanistan in the weeks and months ahead,’ he said. 

Republicans were quick to accuse Biden of abandoning Americans in the city, less than two weeks after he promised to get them all out.

At the same time, the nature of the departure provoked a wave of anger from veterans of the war, many of whom were involved in frantic efforts to rescue Afghan comrades, who were waiting for their Special Immigrant Visas (SIV).

‘Nothing feels good or right about this ignominious retreat leaving American citizens, SIVers and families, and others – including military working dogs – behind,’ Ronald J Moeller, a retired CIA paramilitary operations officer who deployed to Afghanistan 12 times, told DailyMail.com.

‘Zero integrity from anyone in DC or Tampa. 

‘Complete capitulation to a faulty narrative based on false assumptions and lots of wishful thinking.’ 

The dangers were apparent in a final week when the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the suicide attack on the airport on behalf of its Afghan affiliate ISIS-K and terrorism experts said Al Qaeda retained a dangerous presence in the country.

The Taliban quickly declared victory after the last U.S. plane departed. 

‘American soldiers left the airport, and our nation got its full independence,’ said Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid.  

Footage emerged on social media of Taliban fighters apparently making their way through Kabul airport, examining Chinook helicopters left behind by U.S. troops. 

‘The last five aircraft have left, it’s over,’ Hemad Sherzad, a Taliban fighter stationed at Kabul’s international airport, told the Associated Press. 

‘I cannot express my happiness in words. … Our 20 years of sacrifice worked.’

The last days of the withdrawal were the most difficult and dangerous.  

Troops had to get the remaining evacuees on to planes even as their own numbers and supplies were being flown out.

Officials repeatedly warned of the risk of further suicide attacks or rocket assaults.  

It was not supposed to be like this. Plans for an orderly departure evaporated as the Taliban advanced rapidly across the country as they capitalized on an Afghan army that fell apart when it knew its strongest army was leaving. 

McKenzie shrugged off questions about his feelings at leaving the country in the grip of religious hardliners that American had gone to war to vanquish. 

‘No words from me could possibly capture the full measure of sacrifices and accomplishments of those who serve, nor the emotions they’re feeling at this moment, but I will say that I’m proud that both my son and I have been a part of it,’ he said. 

He said the final plane carrying American civilians left about 12 hours before the final flight. 

That could leave as many as 250 stranded in the country as negotiations continue about setting up a mechanism to allow them to leave.

‘I believe we’re going to be able to get those people out,’ said McKenzie. 

‘I think we’re going to negotiate very hard, very aggressively to get our other Afghan partners out.’

Turkey has offered to run the airport but wants to deploy its own troops for security – a possible sticking point with the Taliban. 

The withdrawal was dominated by a hurriedly thrown together evacuation effort. 

A coalition of countries worked around the clock to rescue their citizens and Afghans who worked for their militaries.

More than 122,000 people have been flown out of Kabul since Aug. 14, the day before the regained control of the country. 

It leaves those left behind in a perilous state.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said in a notice that Hamid Karzai International Airport was without air traffic control service after the U.S. exit. 

The Pentagon remained tight-lipped about its final operations on Monday and refused to discuss when its last troops would leave.

Earlier in the day, spokesman John Kirby told reporters ‘there is still time’ for Americans to join the massive airlift that has allowed more than 116,000 people to leave since the Taliban swept back into power two weeks ago.

All day Monday, U.S. military transport jets came and went despite a rocket attack early in the morning. 

The crisis has been the biggest test of Biden’s presidency.

He has faced repeated questions about whether his decision triggered the collapse of the government in Kabul and the rapid return to power of the Taliban. 

International allies have said they blindsided by the rush to the exit, and Democrats and Republicans have delivered a withering stream of criticism.

On Sunday, he came to face to face with the consequences of his decision to bring home U.S. troops home.

He met families of 13 service members killed in a suicide attack outside Kabul airport, as they protected the evacuation, and then watched in solemn silence as their remains were carried from a C-17 transport plane at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.

But the war is not over with America’s departure. The return of the Taliban brings with it the spectre of safe havens for U.S. enemies.

And he Biden administration faces a dilemma about its commitment to launch ‘over the horizon’ strikes on terrorist threats.

It had expected to be able to rely on the support of the Afghan government to provide cover for air strikes on groups plotting attacks on U.S. interests. 

With the Taliban in power, Biden may need fresh rules of engagement to justify attacks on Afghan soil when it is no longer an American battlefield. 

The emergence of ISIS-K as a potent threat may cause the biggest headache.

It posed the biggest threat to the withdrawal after carrying out a suicide bomb attack at the airport late last week that claimed more than 170 lives. 

Biden had warned more attacks were highly likely and the United States said it carried out an air strike on Sunday night in Kabul on an explosives-laden vehicle. 

American officials said that a U.S. drone strike blew up a vehicle carrying ‘multiple suicide bombers.’ An Afghan official said three children were killed in the strike.

The other pressing need is to find a mechanism that will ensure people are able to leave Afghanistan.  

Earlier in the day a divided U.N. Security Council pressed the Taliban to stick to its public promises that foreigners and Afghans would be free to leave.

Sponsored by the U.S., Britain and France, the measure also calls for letting humanitarian aid flow, upholding human rights and combating terrorism.

‘The eyes of all Afghans are watching this council, and they expect clear support from the international community. And this lack of unity is a disappointment for us and for them,’ French Deputy Ambassador Nathalie Broadhurst said after the vote, in which Russia and China abstained. 

Afterwards, the British permanent representative said the U.N. could consider using sanctions to hold the Taliban to their word. 

‘The first is that we know that the Taliban want to see the lifting of some of the sanctions on Afghanistan, and that will be an important consideration,’ Ambassador Barbara Wooding told reporters.

‘The flip side of that is, of course, the Security Council could consider further sanctions on Afghanistan.’

A day earlier French President Emmanuel Macron said several nations were working on a proposal aimed at establishing a safe zone in Kabul to allow safe passage for people trying to flee.