Afghanistan: UK enters final stages of evacuation

The UK has entered the final stages of its Afghanistan evacuation and no more people will be called to the airport to leave, the Ministry of Defence says.

"It is with deep regret that not everyone has been able to be evacuated during this process," Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said.

The MoD said processing facilities at the Baron Hotel, outside the airport in Kabul, had been closed.

The US, which is running the airport, is withdrawing its troops by 31 August.

On Thursday evening, the MoD said 13,146 people had been evacuated by the UK from Kabul under Operation Pitting, which began on 13 August.

These includes embassy staff, British nationals, nationals from partner nations and Afghans eligible under the UK's relocation scheme, such as those who worked for British forces.

The MoD said closing processing facilities would enable the UK to focus efforts on evacuating those who were already ready at the airport ready to leave.

"The UK's ability to process further cases is now extremely reduced and additional numbers will be limited," it said in a statement.

"Evacuating all those civilians we have already processed will free up the capacity needed on UK military aircraft to bring out our remaining diplomats and military personnel."