Afghanistan: First Brits back from Kabul as embassy staff and UK nationals land at RAF Brize Norton

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British civilians evacuated from Afghanistan amid a Taliban takeover have touched down in the UK after fleeing from the advancing extremists.

The first group of embassy staff and British nationals arrived at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire last night, following a rapid SAS-backed rescue mission – dubbed ‘Op Pitting’.

Officials were forced to step-up evacuation plans after Taliban fighters yesterday stormed into Kabul and took control of the capital. 

Initially it had been hoped that the evacuation mission would be carried out across the rest of August, while US intelligence had expected the Afghan capital to hold out for up to three months.

But Taliban fighters were heard shooting guns on the outskirts of the city yesterday morning. By the end of the day the group had captured the Presidential Palace and released footage in which they claimed control of the country.

Along with the UK, the US also stepped up its evacuation plans yesterday. US Air Force Chinooks were seen airlifting staff from the American embassy in Kabul yesterday – in scenes mirroring the 1975 evacuation of Saigon. 

While western nations are evacuating their own citizens, today there is chaos Karbul airport – currently the only route out of Afghanistan that the Taliban are yet to seize – where hundreds of Afghans have been seen running on to the runway in a desperate bid to get away from the country.

Three stowaways are reported to have fallen to their deaths from one airborne plane and a further five people have been killed at Kabul airport among the chaotic scenes. 

The Armed Forces are supporting the evacuation of British nationals and those eligible for relocation under the Government’s Afghan Relocation and Assistance Program.

Special Forces units are joining 600 British troops from the 16 Air Assault Brigade, including 150 Paratroopers, with support from RAF teams from around the world, to airlift British officials out of the Kabul. 

Revealing that the first evacuation flight had landed in the UK last night, the Ministry of Defence said in a Twitter post: ‘Last night the first flight of British Nationals and Embassy Staff arrived at RAF Brize Norton as part of Op Pitting. 

‘The UK Armed Forces are supporting the evacuation of British Nationals and those eligible for relocation under the Afghan Relocation and Assistance Program.’

The rescue mission could eventually see thousands being evacuated from Afghanistan. Around 500 embassy staff are thought to be among those to be rescued. 

Around 5,000 Afghan-English interpreters and their families are also seeking evacuation, as they fear being classed as ‘traitors’ by the extremist Taliban.

There are also thousands of British and dual nationality passport holders who may need evacuation to UK, and around 2,000 people with links to Britain who could also be eligible to leave Afghanistan for the UK.  

It comes as the UK’s ambassador to Afghanistan put plans to leave the country on hold – and remained at Kabul airport to help process the applications of those seeking to leave.

Despite the scramble to evacuate, the ambassador Sir Laurie Bristow was said to be remaining in the city last night.

Boris Johnson said he was at the airport helping to process the applications of those seeking to leave.

The Prime Minister has insisted Britain could ‘look back at 20 years of effort and achievement In Afghanistan’, as he argued he wanted to ‘make sure that we don’t throw those gains away’. 

But when asked if Sir Laurie was among the hundreds already thought to have been rescued, a spokesperson for the Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO) told MailOnline: ‘We have reduced our diplomatic presence in response to the situation on the ground.

‘However our Ambassador remains in Kabul and UK Government staff continue to work to provide assistance to British nationals and to our Afghan staff.

‘We are doing all we can to enable remaining British nationals, who want to leave Afghanistan, to do so.’

Earlier reports had suggested Sir Laurie would be evacuated from Kabul on Sunday evening due to the Taliban’s rapid advancement into the capital.

It comes as three stowaways are reported to have fallen to their deaths from one airborne plane and a further five people have been killed at Kabul airport as thousands of Afghans try desperately to get on flights out of the country amid increasingly chaotic scenes. 

US troops fired shots in the air at Hamad Karzai airport to prevent hundreds of civilians running onto the tarmac after they took over Afghanistan’s air traffic control on Monday morning.

Witnesses said it was not clear whether the five victims were killed by gunshots or in a stampede. 

Footage published by Afghan outlet Aśvaka showed three stowaways falling to the deaths after clinging on to the wheels of a military plane as it took off from Kabul airport. Video posted later appeared to show residents collecting their bodies from a roof in Kabul. 

Meanwhile panicked Afghans were also seen climbing up the outside of an airbridge and chasing a US military C-17 down the runway in a bid to get onboard planes out of the country. Video also showed hundreds of people running alongside – and in front of – a US Air Force plane preparing to take off.

All commercial services have been suspended, with only military flights leaving the country as the UK, US and other western countries repatriate their citizens. 

Almost all major checkpoints in Kabul were under Taliban control by Monday morning and Afghanistan’s Civil Aviation Authority issued an advisory saying the ‘civilian side’ of the airport had been ‘closed until further notice’ and that the military controlled the airspace. 

Taliban officials said everyone would be allowed to return home from Kabul airport if they decide to stay in the country and promised civilians would not be harmed. The group previously said westerners would be allowed to leave the country but that Afghans would be barred from departing. 

US troops are guarding the airport and have taken over air traffic control, but all non-military flights are grounded. Early Monday morning, flight-tracking data showed no immediate commercial flights over the country.

Video posted social media showed hundreds of people scampering with their luggage toward the safety of the airport terminal with the sound of gunfire breaking out. 

Boris Johnson has vowed to get as many as possible of the Afghans who worked with the UK out of the country as the Taliban stood poised to take control of the capital Kabul.

With President Ashraf Ghani fled, and insurgent fighters surrounding the capital, the Prime Minister said the situation was ‘extremely difficult’.

‘The Taliban have won with the judgement of their swords and guns, and are now responsible for the honour, property and self-preservation of their countrymen,’ Ghani said after fleeing.

After chairing a meeting of the Government’s Cobra contingencies committee he said the UK was determined to work with allies to prevent the country again becoming a ‘breeding ground for terror’.

Britain has sent 600 troops – including Paras from 16 Air Assault Brigade – to assist in the operation.

Meanwhile other Western countries were scrambling to get their people out, with helicopters shuttling from the US embassy to the airport while smoke was seen coming from the embassy rooftop as diplomats burned sensitive material.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken had said earlier on Sunday that US embassy staff were ferried by helicopter from the diplomatic compound to the airport, about  5km (3 miles) away on the northeastern side of the city.

‘We’re working to make sure that our personnel are safe and secure. We’re relocating the men and women of our embassy to a location at the airport,’ Blinken told ABC news.

Asked if the evacuation was evocative of the US departure from Vietnam in 1975, he said: ‘Let’s take a step back. This is manifestly not Saigon.’   

Sources told Reuters that most U.S staff were expected to be evacuated from Kabul in the coming day or two.

A NATO official said all commercial flights had been suspended and only military aircraft were allowed to operate. The alliance said it was helping to keep the airport running.

France and Germany, members of NATO, said on Sunday they were moving their diplomats to the airport and sending military transport planes to Kabul to evacuate their citizens and their Afghan helpers.

A US intelligence assessment earlier in the week had said Kabul could be encircled in 30 days and could fall to the Taliban within 90 days, but the insurgents captured most of Afghanistan’s major cities in less than a week and entered the capital on Sunday.

Some 4,200 people remained in the US embassy until Thursday, when the Taliban’s rapid gains forced the Biden administration to begin flying in thousands of troops to help pull out many of the remaining diplomats.