UK evacuation effort from Afghanistan ‘down to hours, not weeks,’ defense secretary says
Britain has “hours now, not weeks” to evacuate people from Afghanistan, the defense secretary has said, as Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to push President Joe Biden of the United States at an emergency meeting of the G7 to extend the end-August evacuation deadline.
In a visit to Port George, near Inverness, on Monday, Secretary Ben Wallace said troops would leave Kabul's airport when the US withdraws.
“We are really down to hours now, not weeks. We have to make sure we exploit every minute to get people out.”
Acknowledging the UK defense secretary’s comments, Minister for the UK Armed Forces James Heappey said “it’s far from certain” that the Taliban may allow evacuation effort to continue beyond the end of the month.
“We have been having these conversations with the Americans,” Heappey told Sky News on Monday, adding, “This isn’t just a decision that gets taken in Washington – the Taliban gets a vote on this as well.”
The Taliban have been an “effective partner” in the evacuations so far, Heappey added, urging the group to show “they want to be a part of the international system” by allowing the flights to continue.
Meanwhile, Suhail Shaheen, the spokesman for the Taliban, said the Taliban would not allow the UK or the US to seek extra time to complete their evacuation efforts, adding that prolonging the time would mean extending Afghanistan's “occupation.”
He said the deadline was a “red line” which must be respected, while warning of “consequences” if that were to change.
“It will create mistrust between us. If they are intent on continuing the occupation it will provoke a reaction,” Shaheen added.
Kabul airport has been the scene of chaos and sporadic violence since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan on August 15, with many Afghans and foreign nationals rushing to the airport and trying to catch evacuation flights out of the country.
The Taliban have blamed the United States for the mayhem at the airport.
“America, with all its power and facilities … has failed to bring order to the airport,” Taliban official Amir Khan Mutaqi said on Sunday, adding that “there is peace and calm all over the country, but there is chaos only at Kabul airport.”
The UK is following the American path in evacuation process from Afghanistan. Johnson acknowledged past week in parliament that Britain could not have stayed in Afghanistan “without American might.”
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