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Britain
Fury after UK admits Brits and 1,100 eligible Afghans will be left behind when Kabul evacuations stop as death toll hits 170
2021-08-28
[Daily Mail, Where America Gets Its News]
  • Three Britons and the child of another British national were killed in Thursday's attack, Foreign Office said

  • Dominic Raab mourned the 'innocent people' who were trying 'to bring their loved ones to safety in the UK'

  • 'We will not turn our backs on those who look to us, and we will never be cowed by terrorists,' he added

  • The suicide attack killed at least 170 people, including 13 American service personnel

  • Pentagon officials said on Friday that there was only one suicide bomber involved, not two as first reported

  • Thousands of desperate Afghans are arriving at the airport despite the constant threat of another attack

  • But Defence Secretary Ben Wallace admitted 1,100 eligible Afghans and up to 150 Britons will be left behind

  • Mr Wallace said the last UK flights would leave Kabul within hours

  • Tory MP Tom Tugendhat warned 'we may find ourselves with the biggest hostage crisis the UK has ever seen'


So far, Britain has evacuated more than 13,700 British nationals and Afghans, representing the second biggest airlift by the country's air force after the Berlin Airlift in 1949, the UK defence ministry said.

About 12,500 people were evacuated from Afghanistan on Thursday, raising the total evacuees since the Taliban took over on August 14 to about 105,000, the White House said on Friday.

About 5,000 of those were evacuated on Thursday evening, according to the White House tallies.

Biden paid tribute to the 'selfless heroes' who died helping vulnerable people to safety, but delivered a stern warning to the Islamic state offshoot behind the blasts that killed 11 U.S. Marines, a Navy medic and another service member screening evacuees at the airport gates.

US officials had previously reported that there were two bombs at the Abbey Gate of Hamid Karzai International Airport, where US troops were screening Afghans for evacuation, and the nearby Baron Hotel, where thousands including Afghans, Britons and Americans, were told to gather in recent days before heading to the airport for evacuation. But the Pentagon said Friday only one suicide bomber carried out the deadly attack outside the Abbey Gate, correcting its earlier assessment that there were two bombers and two separate explosions.

Mr Wallace said one bombing happened in a 'standoff area' where British troops had pushed back from the Baron Hotel processing centre.

But despite the risk of another terrorist attack, hundreds desperate Afghans trying to flee Kabul were seen getting off buses outside Kabul airport. Their hopes are fading fast as the US and its allies are packing up their rescue operations ahead of the Tuesday deadline.

The attack, which saw dead bodies piled up outside the airport, has left hospitals in Kabul overwhelmed due to the sheer number of injured people who have come through their doors. The Kabul Surgical Centre, which is run by the international medical charity Emergency, said it had received 60 injured people in less than two hours on Thursday. Staff said at least 16 people were pronounced dead when they arrived.
Posted by:Skidmark

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