UK to send up to 600 troops to Afghanistan to help evacuate Britons as Taliban closes in on Kabul

A British force of 600 is being sent to Afghanistan to carry out an emergency airlift of civilians as the Taliban closed in on Kabul after seizing cities around the Afghan capital, and strengthened their grip on the country by capturing the symbolic and strategic prize of Herat.  

Most embassy staff, other British nationals, and Afghans who have been given refuge in Britain, are among several thousand people who will be evacuated to the UK in an operation starting at the weekend, and expected to be completed by the end of the month. 

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