i give way.— laurie bristow. i give way. thank ou. he laurie bristow. i give way.ill be aware there are 228 missionaries in afghanistan currently under sentence of death. those missionaries need to be taken out of afghanistan. 0f those missionaries need to be taken out of afghanistan. of course there are tens of thousands of others under sentence of death and fear for their life. will the prime minister i sure the house that every effort will be made to bring back to safe haven people whose lives are under threat as a result of the catastrophe in the foreign policy episode were just gone on in that country? i episode were 'ust gone on in that count ? . ~ country? i thank the right honourable _ country? i thank the right honourable gentleman i country? i thank the right| honourable gentleman for country? i thank the right - honourable gentleman for raising country? i thank the right _ honourable gentleman for raising the very needy case that he does i'm sure that colleagues across the house, literally every member, has received messages from people who know someone

sir laurie bristow, the british ambassador to afghanistan.s he said, simon, there are more people eligible who have not been able to get out. what happens to them? the government are keen to talk about the fact they've got out around 111,500 british citizens and other afghan interpreters over the past couple of weeks but it's thought hundreds more people who would be eligible to come to the uk are still in afghanistan. what's going to happen to them is unclear. because the government is saying that what's ending today and over this weekend is really only the end of phase one of this operation and it's going to look in a second phase to bring eligible people to the uk, but it's not clear how that system will work. for example, that's likely to require cooperation of the taliban if it's going to be international flights, or potentially people may be asked to go to land borders, but how that system of processing would work is not entirely clear at all. plus, of course, the uk has committed to taking around 5,000 refugees direct from the region i

sir laurie bristow, the british ambassador to afghanistan.se people left behind and the efforts which will need to be made to get them to safety where they are eligible. the be made to get them to safety where they are eligible.— they are eligible. the british government _ they are eligible. the british government are _ they are eligible. the british government are keen - they are eligible. the british government are keen to - they are eligible. the british i government are keen to stress they are eligible. the british - government are keen to stress they have got out around 111,500 people but potentially hundreds of others who have worked with the british army over the past 20 years, and the military they are, will still be left stuck in the country and desperate to get out. there has been some criticism of the operation but i think the british military are saying that when the us decided to pull out they were left with little choice but to follow that. we are being told by the government hear that what is happening today, the last civilian

it comes as british ambassador to afghanistan sir laurie bristow said it was "time to close this phasehe evacuation effort. earlier, the head of the armed forces general sir nick carter said it was "heartbreaking" that they had not been able to rescue everybody who is eligible. our diplomatic affairs correspondent caroline hawley reports. at raf brize norton this morning british military personnel arriving back on uk soil. around a thousand were flown out to afghanistan to help in an unprecedented rescue mission — which is now in its final hours. we've done an extraordinaryjob to evacuate as many as we have, but i'm afraid it's absolutely heartbreaking that we can't bring everybody out. and i think that point has been made very strongly, certainly by the defence secretary and others over the last ten days or so. personally, i've probably had over 100 messages from different afghans who i know in my long association with the country, and many of those friends of mine won't make it out. and for me, not a day passes without me having a bit of a tear in my eye about all of that. in less th

laurie bristow stayed behind to process as quickly as possible these applications.e returning to the? it going through the heads of those returning to the?— going through the heads of those returning to the? it was fascinating to watch him _ returning to the? it was fascinating to watch him walk _ returning to the? it was fascinating to watch him walk down _ returning to the? it was fascinating to watch him walk down the - returning to the? it was fascinating to watch him walk down the steps l returning to the? it was fascinating i to watch him walk down the steps and wonder what he must have been thinking knowing that britain had managed to achieve the evacuation of 15,000 people. that's its own people and also afghan civilians but as i said before, they have not managed to rescue everybody around 1000 people by one count has been left behind and i would imagine that these deeply on the minds of everyone involved in that evacuation, one seniorfigure everyone involved in that evacuation, one senior figure said they wished they had more time but that was not up to th

sir laurie bristow, the british ambassador to afghanistan.ound 14,500 british citizens, afghan interpreters, over the past couple of weeks but it is thought hundreds more people who would be eligible to come to the uk are still in afghanistan. what will happen to them is unclear. the government is saying that what is ending today and this weekend is really only the end of phase one of this operation and it is going to look in a second phase to bring eligible people to the uk but it is unclear how that system will work. it is likely to require cooperation of the taliban if it will be international flights, people may be asked to go to land borders, but how processing would work is not clear. plus the uk has committed to taking around 5,000 refugees direct from the region in the first year, up to around 20,000 over the next four or five years. we are told from the home office we are going to get more details this week of how that scheme is going to work but certainly it has been a very complex couple of weeks and those complexities are likely t

i spoke this morning to ambassador sir laurie bristow as well as to brigadier dan blanchford, who is handling the evacuation. it would be fair to say that the situation has stabilised since the weekend, but it remains precarious, and the u.k. officials on the ground are doing everything that they can to expedite the movement of people, those who need to come out, whether from the arap scheme or the eligible persons, to get from kabul to the airport. at the moment, it would be fair to say that the taliban are allowing that evacuation to go ahead, but the most important thing is that we get this done in as expeditious a fashion as we can, and that is what we are doing. i am grateful not just to the u.k. forces who are now out there helping to stabilise the airport, but also to the u.s. forces. can i just make some progress? the combat phase of our mission ended in 2014, when we brought the vast majority of our troops home and handed over responsibility for security to the afghans themselves, and we continued to support their efforts. even at that stage, we should remember that conflict

britain's ambassador, sir laurie bristow, has been helping to process applications. the evacuation is the biggest challenge he's ever faced. but a pentagon briefing said the taliban had so far not prevented the evacuation. we've had no hostile interactions, no attack and no threat by the taliban. we remain vigilant. we have also not experienced any additional security incidents. elsewhere in kabul, normal life is slowly returning, but banks have been shut and cash machines empty. there have also been reports of hospitals struggling without enough women turning up for work. taliban fighters, for so long part of a violent insurgency, are in control, seen everywhere on the streets. the group's co—founder and political chief, mullah abdul ghani baradar, has arrived in kabul. he is expected to form part of the new taliban—dominated government. he spent the last few years leading the taliban delegation at peace talks with the us in qatar. the taliban don't yet control the entire country. the panjshir valley, north of kabul, is once more a centre of resistance to their rule

britain's ambassador leading the uk's rescue mission has in a statement, sir laurie bristow said...e of the 3,821 people the uk has so far helped get out of the country. the mod tweeted this photo, along with thanks for all those working on the evacuation. but americans hoping to leave have been advised not to travel to kabul airport unless instructed to do so because of potential security threats from islamic state militants. the us is still hoping to complete the evacuation by the end of the month. we're fighting against both time and space. that's really what we're. .. that's what we're — that's the race that we're in right now and we're trying to do this as quickly and as safely as possible. the us president, joe biden, has promised to mobilise every resource necessary, but his predecessor, donald trump, who signed a deal with the taliban that committed american troops to leaving, questioned why many soldiers left afghanistan before civilians were flown out. biden�*s botched exit in afghanistan is the most astonishing display of gross incompetence by a nation's leader perhaps at

well, in the last half an hour, britain's ambassador to afghanistan, laurie bristow, has said that thearget. the biggest airlift for 70 years. were actually now hearing the ministry of defence has confirmed the final uk evacuation flight purely for afghan nationals has now left kabul airport. so a significant moment, bringing to a close that evacuation of afghan nationals. the dreadfully sad news is that there are those who remain behind, at least 1100 people it is estimated who were eligible for airlift, but the uk government said it simply was not possible to get everybody out, the same as has been said by the americans. there will be people who will be left behind. borisjohnson has said that the government will do everything in its power to help them out. at the airport, just in the past few moments, britton's ambassador to afghanistan has said it is time to close this part of the operation down, and we are hearing therefore that the final uk evacuation flight purely for afghan nationals has left the airport. it is now uk troops who will come back in those last remaining flights. an

a to scan is done. laurie bristow, he's saying he's going to be one of the last one lead wanting to make sure everyone who can, who can, and want to leave through the u. k. relocation program gets on, gets on a flight. so we'll have to update you on whether or not the schedule is going to change. charlie angela, that was all the latest for us from london. thank you so much, johnny. well, if you are just joining us now, i'm in the stall, the t a and this is the news i live from headquarters here in doha. as we continue our coverage of breaking news from afghanistan, there's just been an explosion possibly more than one explosion just in the past. outside couple airport. the taliban is saying at least 11 people have been killed and many more injured. this all comes after the u. s. a straightly, i'm the u. k. all warned people to stay away from the airport because of what they called an imminent threat from an eyesore of shoes in the country. thousands though have still been gathering outside the airport for days in hopes of fleeing the country after the taliban took over. well, we have mul

had brought more afghan refugees and the man who led the effort to bring them home, ambassador laurie bristowr on board, baby girl hubba was born during the flight, a new life heading for a new land. the evacuation marks the end of the uk's 20 year military involvement in afghanistan. in recent weeks, the raf scrambled to airlift 15,000 people, most of them afghan refugees, before the taliban deadline for foreign troops to withdraw by the end of august. but hundreds more remained stranded, with uk citizens and eligible refugees. the taliban has said they will be allowed to leave. but with fear and tension is increasing, it remains to be seen if the islamist group will honour the pledge. gunfire. and potential danger is not limited to the taliban. the local branch of the so—called islamic state group killed more than 170 people on thursday's bomb attack, including mohammed maisie, a taxi driverfrom hampshire who travelled to kabul to bring his family back. his wife and daughter also died. ~ ., . his wife and daughter also died. a, ., .,, ., his wife and daughter also died. ., .,, ., ., died. m

the british - afghanistan ambassador was the most notable passenger, laurie bristow emerged 8:30am this, walked alone down the steps, touched down on the tarmac and was greeted by a discreet handshake from his boss at the foreign office, the permanent undersecretary. that was that. that was the stark image, the stark confirmation that britain's mission in kabul is over, over but not complete because although britain evacuated 15,000 people, the numbers suggest they still did not get everyone out and there are still around 1000 local allies they wanted to evacuate but could not evacuate. that clearly weighs heavily on the mind of the departing ambassador, the man who hasjust mind of the departing ambassador, the man who has just returned and other officers, they are deeply saddened by the fact that is incomplete. the safety of those they could not get out is now in the hands of the taliban itself. thank ou ve hands of the taliban itself. thank you very much. — hands of the taliban itself. thank you very much, james. _ the shadow foreign secretary lisa nandyjoins us. what are your thought

was seen pretty symbolically here on the airfield when the uk ambassador to afghanistan, sir laurie bristowed down the steps of the aircraft. he is in effect homeless now because the embassy in afghanistan has been shut. it is going to be relocated to qatar. he said on the tarmac that he hoped eventually the uk would be able to reopen an embassy in kabul but the timescale of that is not at all clear. he also said the past couple of weeks, getting people out of the country had been intense, it had been extraordinary, he paid tribute to staff from the foreign office, the border force and also the military who have been involved in that. but he also wanted to say that the people of afghanistan who have been left behind should not be forgotten. there are thought to be potentially around 1000 people who have been unable to get out who are eligible to come to the uk. 0pposition members have said they think the number could be far higher than that. so the uk says it will work in the coming weeks and months on a phase two of the operation to try and bring those who are eligible to the uk but there

had brought more afghan refugees, and the man who led the effort to bring them home, ambassador laurie bristowded with an extra passenger on board. baby girl havva was born during the flight. a new life heading for a new land. the evacuation marks the end of the uk's 20—year military involvement in afghanistan. in recent weeks, the raf scrambled to airlift 15,000 people, most of them afghan refugees, before the taliban deadline for foreign troops to withdraw by the end of august. but hundreds more remain stranded, both uk citizens and eligible refugees. the taliban has said they will be allowed to leave. but with fear and tensions increasing, it remains to be seen if the islamist group will honour that pledge. and potential danger is not limited to the taliban. a local branch of the so—called islamic state group killed more than 170 people in thursday's bomb attack, including mohammad niazi, a taxi driverfrom hampshire who travelled to kabul to bring his family back. his wife, samina, and their baby daughter also died. mohammad was one of the best men we have in the community, working hard to

in a statement, sir laurie bristow said...ome of the 3821 people the uk has so far helped get out of the uk has so far helped get out of the country. the mod tweeted this photo, along with thanks for all those working on the evacuation. but americans hoping to leave had been advised not to travel to kabul airport unless instructed to do so because of potential security threats from islamic state militants. the us are still hoping to complete the evacuation by the end of the month.— end of the month. we're fighting auainst end of the month. we're fighting against time _ end of the month. we're fighting against time space. _ end of the month. we're fighting against time space. that's - end of the month. we're fighting against time space. that's really| against time space. that's really what we're. .. against time space. that's really what we're... what against time space. that's really what we're. .. what we're against time space. that's really what we're... what we're — that's the race we're in right now and we're trying to do

had brought more afghan refugees, and the man who led the effort to bring them home, ambassador laurie bristowen landed with an extra passenger on board. baby girl havva was born during the flight. a new life heading for a new land. the evacuation marks the end of the uk's 20—year military involvement in afghanistan. in recent weeks, the raf scrambled to airlift 15,000 people, most of them afghan refugees, before the taliban deadline for foreign troops to withdraw by the end of august. but hundreds more remain stranded, both uk citizens and eligible refugees. the taliban has said they will be allowed to leave. but with fear and tensions increasing, it remains to be seen if the islamist group will honour that pledge. and potential danger is not limited to the taliban. a local branch of the so—called islamic state group killed more than 170 people in thursday's bomb attack, including mohammad niazi, a taxi driverfrom hampshire who travelled to kabul to bring his family back. his wife, samina, and their baby daughter also died. mohammad was one of the best men we have in the community, working ha

speaking to reporters in kabul earlier, the uk ambassador to afghanistan sir laurie bristow says it'sday, so we can get through the large number of british nationals we need to get out, the large number of afghans that have worked with us that we need to get out. so that we can do that in the short time available. can do that in the short time available-— can do that in the short time available. �* , ., , ,., available. it's an interesting point that you're _ available. it's an interesting point that you're making _ available. it's an interesting point that you're making that _ available. it's an interesting point that you're making that it - available. it's an interesting point that you're making that it was i that you're making that it was fairly— that you're making that it was fairly chaotic. because so many people — fairly chaotic. because so many people descended on the airport. the taliban— people descended on the airport. the taliban are _ people descended on the airport. the taliban are assisting and they seem to be _ taliban are assisting and they seem to be at— taliban are a

in enormous pressure, and i have the utmost respect for sir laurie bristow who is doing a greatjob outhe risks and the dangers and the pressures of that. but we are all huge hearted people, representatives of the british nation which is an open hearted because it nation and of course we care about the suffering that we see around us. —— and open hearted, bighearted nation. we are seeing this heart—wrenching images of people being trampled, and the pressure is enormous. people on the ground can only do so much, this is a time for political leaders in the world through the g7 to come together, put in place and agree a proper evacuation plan, engage with the taliban if necessary but start to look a little bit long term. we cannotjust deal to look a little bit long term. we cannot just deal with the to look a little bit long term. we cannotjust deal with the here and now, i hope that the seven will start to frame a strategy for the engagement going forward. what are they interests and values we agree amongst ourselves? and there will be huge challenges coming up, the country is broke, ther