Defence Secretary admits “some people won’t get back” from Afghanistan
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Defence Secretary Ben Wallace admits “some people won’t get back” from Afghanistan as five are shot dead at Kabul airport.
Over the weekend 600 UK troops arrived in Afghanistan in a bid to support the extraction of some 4,000 British citizens and eligible Afghans from the country.
Their arrival came not a moment too soon – Kabul, Afghanistan’s capital city, has fallen to the Taliban who have de facto control of the country as the withdrawal of Western troops continues.
Five people have been shot dead at Kabul airport as the runway was stormed by hundreds trying to flee the violence according to the Telegraph. US troops were seen firing into the air as crowds tried to board planes earlier today, but it is not clear whether the incidents are connected.
This morning, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, who served in the Scots guard, gave an emotional interview to LBC and spoke of his regret that “some people won’t get back”.
He said: “It’s a really deep part of regret for me … look, some people won’t get back. Some people won’t get back and we will have to do our best in third countries to process those people.”
In comments to BBC Breakfast, Wallace said that 300 British passport holders had left Afghanistan with the government aiming to get 1,500 more people out over the next 24 to 36 hours.
“If we manage to keep it in the way we’re planning to, we should have capacity for over 1,000 people a day to exit to the United Kingdom,” he said.
“Currently, this is not about capacity on planes, it’s about processing speeds, so that’s why I’m trying to fix that.”
Tobias Ellwood compared scenes at Kabul airport to “Saigon” and called for a “public inquiry” to be held into the chaotic withdrawal of Western troops which risks abandoning the country to civil war.
Mr Wallace said the government “will try our very best” to get all those eligible out of Afghanistan by 31 August or sooner when the withdrawal of US troops is due to conclude.
While Kabul airport is not yet under attack the situation is expected to evolve quickly now that Taliban insurgents control the capital.
Read more: The fall of Afghanistan: Western governments got bored and Taliban rule has been resurrected