Britain will end its civilian evacuation from Afghanistan today ahead of the August 31 deadline for troop withdrawal from the country.
British defense minister; Ben Wallace said on Friday that the country was entering the final hours of its evacuation and would process only people who were already inside Kabul airport.
“We have some civilian flights to take out, but it is very few now,” Carter told the BBC. “We’re reaching the end of the evacuation, which will take place during the course of today. And then it will be necessary to bring our troops out on the remaining aircraft,” he said.
According to armed forces chief; General Nick Carter, hundreds of Afghans entitled to resettlement in Britain are likely to be left behind as only soldiers are left to be flown out of the war torn country.
He said the country should be “holding its breath” at the challenge ahead amid the threat posed by the local Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K) terror group.
The group had claimed responsibility for the two suicide bombings on Thursday which left over 95 people dead and 143 wounded amid evacuation operations.
Carter added UK “not out of the woods yet” as the its evacuation efforts following the Taliban takeover draw to a close.
“The plain fact is we have always got that in the back of our minds. For the troops on the ground, they have to be constantly alert and constantly thinking about how they can rebut the threat,” he told the ‘Sky News’.
“We should all be holding our breath and thinking of the last aeroplane and what a challenge it will be for those people trying to effect their departure,” he said.
“We’re reaching the end of the evacuation, which will take place during the course of today, and then of course it’ll be necessary to bring our troops out on the remaining aircraft,” General Carter told the BBC.
“It’s gone as well as it could do in the circumstances… but we haven’t been able to bring everybody out and that has been heartbreaking and there have been some very challenging judgements that have had to be made on the ground,” he said.
The general admitted that the reality is that not everyone will get out.
“Not a day passes where I don’t have a tear in my eye over that. It’s not how
we hoped it would end, that’s absolutely right… I think we have done an extraordinary job to evacuate as many civilian as we can but I’m afraid it’s absolutely heart-breaking we can’t get everybody out,” said Carter.
“If they are able to get out they will always be welcome but the awful fact of life is difficult decisions have to be made,” he added.
