Chaos in Kabul

British troops are racing against the clock to rescue the remaining UK nationals and their local allies from Afghanistan after the Taliban toppled the country’s Western-backed government in less than a week, writes Olivia Gavoyannis.
 
Around 600 British soldiers will be involved in Operation Pitting – a mission to rescue around 4,000 or so British nationals and eligible Afghans who are thought to be in the capital, Kabul.
 
The first British repatriation flight from Afghanistan landed in the UK on Sunday night and the PM’s spokesperson said flights will continue to evacuate hundreds more from Kabul every day for “as long as is safe”.
 
But the unexpected speed of the Taliban’s takeover has created chaos in the capital. Earlier today, all evacuation flights from Kabul’s airport were cancelled after thousands of people stormed the runway. They are now set to resume.
 
Sir Laurie Bristow, the UK ambassador to Afghanistan, was due to be airlifted out of Afghanistan over the weekend but has stayed in the country and is believed to be personally signing visa applications at Kabul airport.
 
But for many, the British support for local allies is too little, too late.
 
Last month, senior military figures sent an open letter to Boris Johnson stating that they were “gravely concerned” for hundreds of interpreters whose claims had been rejected by the Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy (ARAP), which has been established to offer relocation or other assistance to local allies.
 
Campaigners estimate that around 200 former translators are still waiting to secure visas for themselves and their families, and are now at risk of reprisals from the Taliban.
 
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said all those who had served deserved protection, adding that there should be no “nice distinction” between workers based on their professions or whether they had been UK government employees or contractors.
 
Many are calling for the UK’s visa programme to be extended to those citizens who are most at risk of retaliation from the Taliban, such as female politicians.
 
Rory Stewart, a former international development secretary who has close ties to Afghanistan, dismissed the PM’s decision to recall parliament on Wedneday as unproductive, saying that instead: “The focus now needs to be on refugees, and humanitarian and development assistance for the fall-out from this tragedy.”
 
There is also concern that civilians who are outside of Kabul and cannot travel to the capital will be beyond the reach of Western forces and will be left behind.
 
Ben Wallace, the Defence Secretary, held back tears in an interview this morning as he admitted many people will not reach Western forces in Kabul to be evacuated. He said that many would have to make asylum applications after the evacuation, possibly from third countries, and pledged that Britain’s relocation programme would be “open-ended”.
 
Wallace, a former soldier, laid the blame for the current turmoil firmly at the feet of former US president Donald Trump, who approved the deal with the Taliban to initiate the withdrawal of US troops by September.
 
But there has also been plenty of criticism for the UK’s handling of the withdrawal – most notably from a raft of Tory heavyweights.
 
Former defence minister Tobias Ellwood said the UK’s foreign policy had been “missing in action”, while Tom Tugendhat, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said the UK had “abandoned the Afghan people”.
 
Downing Street has said the UK will work with international partners “on preventing any sort of humanitarian crisis” in Afghanistan. But with reports that there are already target killings and looting taking place in Kabul, international forces will have to work swiftly to support the innocent civilians caught up in the takeover.