LONDON, August 29. /TASS/. The last plane with the United Kingdom troops remaining at the Kabul airport took off from Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defense wrote on Twitter.
"The final flight carrying UK Armed Forces personnel has left Kabul. To all those who served so bravely under enormous pressure and horrendous conditions to safely evacuate the most vulnerable of civilians," the ministry said.
Earlier, UK Ambassador to Afghanistan Laurie Bristow said that since August 13, London has evacuated about 15,000 civilians from Kabul, including Afghans who helped Western forces during a 20-year military operation, and 1,000 members of the Royal Armed Forces.
On Friday, UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace admitted that the authorities would not be able to take everyone they would like out of the country. According to him, between 800 and 1,100 Afghans who helped the UK and 100-150 British nationals will remain in Afghanistan. Some of them, according to Wallace, remain there by choice.
Western leaders have previously confirmed that they plan to fully complete the operation to evacuate their citizens from Kabul by August 31. At the same time, according to a joint statement by the leaders of the G7 states, the Taliban (outlawed in Russia) militants should provide an opportunity to leave the country for Afghans who do not want to live under their rule even after August 31, guaranteeing full acceptance of commercial flights at the capital's airport.