Authorisation The operation was first announced on 13 August 2021 after it was authorised by Prime Minister
Boris Johnson. Its stated aim, according to the Ministry of Defence, was to evacuate British nationals, embassy staff and Afghans eligible for relocation under the Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy (ARAP). The operation began with approximately 600 military personnel, some of which were drawn from the
British Army's high-readiness
16 Air Assault Brigade, tasked with logistical support and
force protection. They were joined by a small team from the
Home Office to assist the FCDO in Kabul with processing visas and other travel documents. Command and control for the operation was based at
Permanent Joint Headquarters in
Northwood, London The United States carried out a concurrent military operation with the same aim, code-named
Operation Allies Refuge, and there were similar operations being carried out by
other countries. The UK established an
airbridge between the UK and Afghanistan with stop-overs taking place in the
United Arab Emirates. The operation had been planned months before; however, the Taliban offensive progressed far quicker than expected.
Arrival of British forces (13 August 2021) British military personnel began arriving at
Kabul's
Hamid Karzai International Airport on 15 August aboard a
Royal Air Force Boeing C-17 Globemaster III. HQ staff worked to establish a command and control centre beyond the airport wire to coordinate evacuation efforts, whilst other troops helped vacate diplomatic staff at the British Embassy and also establish a processing centre at Baron Hotel. Elsewhere, troops began cooperating with US forces to secure the airport. During the Fall of Kabul, the airport was targeted by gunfire and mortar rounds. Some of these rounds landed around an RAF
A400M Atlas C1 aircraft which had landed with military personnel on board. A total of eleven RAF aircraft, consisting of four Voyagers, four C-17s, two
Atlas C1s and one
Lockheed C-130J Hercules were involved in operations during the same day. Following the suspension of most commercial flights from Kabul, crowds of stranded Afghans took to the runways out of desperation and attempted to board aircraft. There were at least five confirmed deaths, with some falling to their deaths after latching onto the sides of aircraft that were taking off. This occurred in the commercial part of the airport, whilst British forces operated in the separate military side; Defence Secretary
Ben Wallace was given assurances from the Taliban, via a third party, that the military side would be kept functional. During an interview with
LBC, an emotional Wallace also admitted that some people would be left behind, particularly those not in Kabul, but insisted that the operation was open-ended and without a time limit. According to Wallace, the operation aimed to evacuate a further 1,500 people over the next 2436 hours. The RAF began diverting aircraft from other operations to assist. The
UK Border Force also became involved with the operation to help process evacuees. The airport subsequently became more stable, allowing the RAF to begin mass airlifts. The access points to the airport, as well as the city at large, remained under Taliban control, however the Taliban were cooperative with local commanders.
Chief of Joint Operations Vice Admiral Sir
Ben Key warned that if the Taliban became uncooperative, British forces may have to abandon rescue operations. On 18 August, reports began to emerge that Taliban checkpoints outside the airport were refusing entry to some Afghans and beating women and children. This was followed by a report published by the RHIPTO Norwegian Center for Global Analyses that the Taliban were conducting door-to-door searches for Afghans who had previously assisted coalition forces. During the same day, two RAF evacuation flights took place, carrying a potential maximum of 250 passengers each, which also included 76 Australians. On 19 August, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace announced that no unattended children would be permitted to fly after footage was released of desperate Afghan families handing over their children to British and US forces. On 20 August, a report from
The Times claimed
UK Special Forces were active in Kabul and seeking out those unable to access the airport due to the Taliban. In the previous 24 hours, the RAF had evacuated 963 people. On 21 August, soaring temperatures and cramped conditions lead to increased disorder from growing queues of Afghans. This resulted in casualties, which were tended to by British medics, as well as a number of deaths. To try and maintain order, shots were fired into the air. During the same day, an on-scene report by
Sky News Chief Correspondent
Stuart Ramsay provided an insight into the procedures undertaken by British forces. According to his report, a compound was being used to process evacuees which had a row of shipping containers at its entrance. Soldiers were stood atop them and called eligible people forward. Beyond the containers, a chaotic crowd of "possibly tens of thousands" awaited processing, held back by a line of paratroopers with riot shields. Taliban militants were also present in the crowd, beating people with canes. They also checked documents and ushered people to the front of the queue if they had basic travel documentation, such as a passport. They were then let through the line of paratroopers and shipping containers for further processing. According to another report by the same author, the Taliban cooperated closely with the paratroopers, sometimes standing atop their shipping containers. Once through the compound, a bus shuttled the evacuees to a passenger handling facility where the
RAF Police performed safety checks and RAF movers processed check-ins. The
Royal Logistics Corps was responsible for all logistics.
Growing security threat and US withdrawal On 22 August, the US made changes to its evacuation procedures due to the threat posed by
ISIL-KP, a branch of the Islamist terrorist organisation
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant which is known to be active in Afghanistan. The UK also acknowledged this threat. Whilst both radical
Jihadist groups, ISIL-KP follows Wahhabi-Salafist traditions which are a lot more extreme than the Deobandi traditions practised by the Taliban. This has brought both groups into
conflict with one another. On 23 August, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace announced that the UK had "hours not weeks" to complete its evacuations after the US announced its intention to withdraw on 31 August. The UK government said it would request an extension of the US deadline to allow more flights to take place, however, the Taliban said it would not support a deadline extension. On the same day, it was announced that a total of 6,631 people had been evacuated by the UK since operations began. This included one person who was shortly afterwards thought to be on a "no-fly" watchlist, used to protect against those deemed to be a security threat, such as terrorists, but later confirmed not to be. Around 200 members of the
Black Watch, 3rd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland prepared to deploy. In total, over 1,000 military personnel were now involved with operations. On 24 August, the UK hosted an emergency meeting for
G7 leaders which Prime Minister Boris Johnson used to request an extension of the US deadline, backed by the leaders of France, Germany, Italy, Canada and Japan. In response, the Taliban reiterated its position, describing a deadline extension as a "violation" which it would respond to. Following the G7 leaders meeting, the US announced that the deadline would remain in place. In the UK, questions were raised on the prospects of the UK military taking over Kabul airport after the departure of the US, however, according to retired British Army General Sir
Richard Barrons, the UK would find it difficult to replace the vast resources the US has deployed and the Taliban, opposed to foreign forces remaining beyond the US withdrawal, had the potential to pose too great a threat. Former Defence Minister
Johnny Mercer denied claims the UK was unable to carry out its operations without the US and argued it was an issue of political will. On 26 August, Prime Minister Boris Johnson stated the "overwhelming majority" of eligible people had been evacuated by the UK, amounting to a total of around 15,000 people, however around 2,000 remained. Defence Minister James Heappey admitted that some people would not be evacuated by the 31 August deadline. Heappey also warned of the risk posed by Islamic State and claimed there was "now very, very credible reporting of an imminent attack". During the same day,
a suicide bombing occurred on the outskirts of the airport which resulted in the deaths of at least 182 people, including 13 US military personnel, and injuries to over 150. Two British nationals and the child of a British national were also killed. There were initial reports of a second bombing occurring at Baron Hotel, which was being used as a processing centre for British forces, however subsequent investigations found a second attack had not taken place. Following the attack, British forces provided medical assistance to the wounded and secured the perimeter, allowing US forces to extract their dead or wounded. British forces also assisted with
bomb disposal.
2nd Battalion, The Yorkshire Regiment (2 YORKS) had arrived in Kabul on the same day, deploying from
Cyprus. Hours after the attack, an RAF C-17 loaded with evacuees also had a
near miss with three vehicles, including a bus, which had mistakenly steered onto the runway. Both pilots believed aborting take-off would result in a collision, however the aircraft was able to reach the required speed to get airborne, narrowly missing the vehicles by . Further complicating the situation, the aircraft had to take-off without the aid of runway lights as the airport had suffered a power failure. On 31 August, emails revealed to
BBC Newsnight showed that the British Embassy had instructed evacuees to reach Abbey Gate hours before the attack, despite the UK and US previously announcing an attack was imminent. On 30 August,
Politico also claimed that US commanders wanted to close Abbey Gate due to the risk of an attack but kept it open at the UK's request to allow British evacuations to take place. These claims, however, were denied by the UK government.
Final stage On 27 August, the UK government announced the Kabul evacuation had entered its final stage, following the
Fall of Kabul. As part of the drawdown, the processing centre at Baron Hotel was closed and the focus shifted to evacuating those already processed. Defence Secretary Ben Wallace described his "deep regret" that not everyone would be able to evacuate but praised the efforts of those involved in evacuating over 13,000 people in 14 days. Wallace also disclosed that timetables had been "squeezed" and military equipment was under consideration to be left behind or destroyed to free up capacity for more Afghans and British nationals. On 28 August,
Chief of the Defence Staff Sir Nick Carter confirmed that evacuation operations were ending that same day, stating that it was "heartbreaking" that they had failed to evacuate everyone who wanted to get out. During one of the final evacuation flights, flying via Dubai to
Birmingham, an Afghan refugee gave birth to a baby girl. The final evacuation flight for civilians left later on that same day, followed by the very final evacuation flight, carrying military personnel, marking the end of the operation. Between 8001,100 eligible Afghans and 100150 British nationals were estimated to have been left behind, along with some military equipment. The UK government subsequently entered into talks with the Taliban on the safe passage out of Afghanistan of those left behind. By the end of the operation, the RAF had carried out over 100 evacuation flights, amounting to a total of . Thirty-one flights from Kabul were undertaken by the A400M, forty-six by the C-17 and twenty-four by the C-130J. One flight undertaken by a C-17 carried a total of 436 people, triple the aircraft's designed capacity and the highest capacity flight in RAF history. A total of over 15,000 people were evacuated, consisting of 5,000 British nationals and 8,000 Afghans—2,200 of which were also children. ==Deployed forces==