PM Boris Johnson lauds UK troops as they return on last flight out of Kabul

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on August 29 hailed the armed forces of the country after Britain’s last evacuation flight from Afghanistan landed on Sunday morning at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire. The last remaining UK troops have now touched down in the home country after leaving the war-ravaged nation for the last time and ending Britain’s two-decade presence in Afghanistan. The British troops returned in the last flight after the departure of the last dedicated flight for the evacuation effort from Taliban-controlled Afghanistan before the August 31 deadline. 

In a video message shared on Twitter on the completion of operations in Afghanistan, Johnson said, “It is at the darkest and the most difficult moments that the Armed Forces of this country have always performed their greatest and most astonishing feats.”

“As I speak, Sir Laurie Bristow, Her Majesty’s Ambassador, has finally boarded one of the very last flights from Kabul. All remaining soldiers, diplomats and civil servants have now left, it’s the culmination of a mission, unlike anything we’ve seen in our lifetimes,” he added.

UK PM also noted that country’s troops and officials have worked round the clock to a “remorseless deadline in harrowing conditions.” He further informed that the UK had 'processed, checked, vetted and airlifted' more than 15,000 people in less than two weeks.

He said, "It's thanks to their colossal exertions that this country has now processed, checked, vetted and airlifted more than 15,000 people to safety in less than two weeks."

Johnson lauded the British service members for working relentlessly and saving the lives of Afghans in fear of their life as the Taliban rose to power after two decades. Johnson said, “They’ve seen at firsthand, barbaric terrorist attacks on the queues of people, they were trying to comfort, as well as our American friends,” referring to the Thursday’s blasts at Kabul airport that killed at least 95 Afghan nationals and 13 US troops. 

“They didn't flinch. They kept calm. They got on with the job,” British PM.

Johnson wrote to Armed Forces

Boris Johnson wrote to the armed forces and said “should feel immense pride” for what they have done including the efforts in the past years of the UK’s 20-year Afghan campaign. UK PM wrote, “Your efforts in difficult and hostile circumstances have seen the evacuation of thousands of British nationals alongside Afghans who worked with us, and who will now start new lives in the UK. I know that the events of recent weeks will have been hard for the armed forces community to watch unfold.”

“Over the last two decades, many thousands of you dedicated years of your lives to service in Afghanistan, often in the most arduous conditions. In particular, I realise that this will be an especially difficult time for the friends and loved ones of the 457 service personnel who laid down their lives. So I want to take this opportunity to offer my profound thanks for everything you did and to say without hesitation that you should take the greatest pride in your achievements," he added.

IMAGE: AP