British officials have warned that ongoing evacuations from Kabul airport could continue with the allotted time and urge the US to postpone the August 31 deadline to withdraw from Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.
Officials said that unless the deadline is withdrawn, British forces will likely not be able to rescue all the thousands of Afghans eligible for safe passage to Britain.
“We don’t have our gift of staying there until absolutely everyone leaves,” admitted on Friday James Heappey, a minor minister in the armed forces. “The airlift [could last] two more days, five more days, ten more days. It keeps all the people here in the Ministry of Defense awake at night, this reality that we will not take out of everyone. “
Heappey went on to say that “for the time being, the vast majority is coming to us. Now, of course, some will not be able to reach us.
“There are people who are scared and feel with good reason that they can’t risk it,” he added. “There are others who are much further away in Afghanistan and will have a real challenge” to get to the airport.
The London Times reported on Friday that the British government had been told to prepare for the last UK evacuation flight departing from Hamid Karzai International Airport on Tuesday, a week before the 31st deadline. August, to allow British troops remaining in the country to withdraw.
“People will be left behind,” a senior government source told the newspaper. “It simply came to our notice then. There could be thousands. I don’t think people have realized the extent of the risk. ”
Another source suggested that up to 2,000 Afghans eligible for resettlement in the UK could be left defending against the Taliban.
Meanwhile, they continue to have problems with the incorporation of people on board flights departing from Afghanistan. The Telegraph reported last Friday that UK military flights departing from Kabul are only 75% full due to processing problems.
On Friday afternoon, the United States said it had taken approximately 13,000 people out of the country since Aug. 14 and 5,700 people the previous 24 hours. However, Biden administration officials have admitted that they do not have an exact count of how many American and allied Afghans remain trapped in hostile territory.
The Times also reported that British paratroopers on the ground in Kabul feared that U.S. forces would withdraw with a “zero warning”, leaving them with no choice but to follow suit, leaving thousands dead in near-certain death.
The apparent feeling of mistrust between US and UK forces seems to have worsened in recent days as British special forces head to the Afghan capital to retrieve possible evacuees (including US citizens). of safe houses, while American troops are left behind to secure the perimeter of the airport.
Tom Rogan, a commentator for the Washington Examiner, said Friday that the 82nd Airborne commander-in-chief had told his British counterpart to “cease operations beyond the perimeter of the airport” because his men “embarrassed the military. of the United States in the absence of similar military operations in the United States. “
“I understand that the British officer firmly rejected the request,” Rogan wrote.
Then there are the Taliban themselves. Its fighters control the checkpoints that control access to the airport and hit anyone, including Americans, who tries to cross the road.
Islamic fundamentalist group spokesman Sunil Shaheen suggested this week that the Taliban would allow U.S. forces to remain in Afghanistan until the 9/11 anniversary of the initial withdrawal announcement. of President Biden.
However, some UK officials do not seem inclined to trust the group. As told the Telegraph, “Finally, the Taliban will want them to return to their airport.”
In White House statements Friday, Biden described the ongoing evacuation mission as “dangerous,” saying it “involves risks to our armed forces and is being carried out in difficult circumstances.”
“I can’t promise what the end result will be or what it will be, which will be risk-free,” Biden said. “But as Commander-in-Chief, I can assure you that I will mobilize all necessary resources.”
However, while the State Department has repeatedly urged Americans to arrive at the airport as soon as possible, they have also warned that the U.S. government cannot guarantee safe passage to them.