Britain’s Afghanistan evacuation mission will end today, armed forces chief says

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Speaking in the morning ahead of the final day of airlifts General Sir Nick Carter said "very few" civilian evacuation flights were still taking place. But the armed forces head insisted that the final stages were "going according to plan", as opposition parties warned Britain's "failure" in Afghanistan would be seen as a "betrayal". But he told Sky News: "This is the brutal truth, despite getting more than 14,000 people out, there are probably 1,000 Afghans who have worked with us over two decades in Afghanistan, helped our troops, our aid workers, our diplomats, that we promised to protect, but we're leaving behind. It came as Conservative chair of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, former soldier Tom Tugendhat, warned of the risk of the “biggest hostage crisis the UK has ever seen” if interpreters and other staff, as well as remaining British citizens, are held by the Taliban, telling Sky News: “This is what defeat looks like.” Speaking on Saturday Mr Tugendhat has described the UK's efforts to withdraw people from Afghanistan as a "sprint finish after a not exactly sprint start".