The first British troops have begun deploying to Afghanistan to assist in the evacuation of the remaining UK nationals from the country.
The Ministry of Defence said Operation Pitting started on Friday with members of 16 Air Assault Brigade, who will provide force protection, due to leave over the weekend.
READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon slams Afghanistan 'abandonment' as country faces 'tragedy'
The move comes as the Taliban continue to close in on Kabul after seizing a series of provincial capitals in a lightning advance across the country.
The US is also sending 3,000 troops to facilitate the departure of its remaining nationals as the prospects for the Afghan government of President Ashraf Ghani look increasingly bleak.
Around 600 troops are expected to take part in the UK operation, which will also help with the relocation of Afghans who helped British forces when they were in the country and now face reprisals if they fall into the hands of the Taliban.
A small team of Home Office officials is flying out with the military to assist the remaining embassy staff in processing visas and other documentation needed for travel.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said: “Protecting British nationals and ensuring their safety as they leave Afghanistan is our top priority.
“Over the next few weeks, we shall all do our very best to support the Afghan government and those that have worked with us over 20 years.”
Boris Johnson said on Friday the current situation was the “inevitable logical consequence” of the decision by the Biden administration to withdraw all remaining US forces by the 20th anniversary next month of the original 9/11 terror attacks.
The Prime Minister insisted the sacrifices of the British armed forces who fought in the country had not been in vain, but said there was no question now of a “military solution” to halt the Taliban onslaught.
He said the Government would use whatever political or diplomatic levers it could – including the UK overseas aid budget – to try to ensure that Afghanistan did not becoming a breeding ground again for international terrorism.
However there was anger and frustration among MPs across the political spectrum at the way, they said, the country was now being abandoned to its fate, amid calls for Parliament to be recalled from its summer break.
READ MORE: What is happening in Afghanistan now?
Among the cities to fall in recent days is Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital of Helmand where British forces were involved in some of the fiercest fighting of the conflict.
Across the country there have been reports of war crimes and atrocities, with forced marriages and women being brutalised as the militants’ advance continues.
Labour MP Dan Jarvis, who served two tours of duty in Afghanistan as an officer in the Paras, said he had spoken to fellow veterans who were feeling “angry, frustrated, heartbroken” about the situation.
“There’s a lot of people feeling really bad about how things have turned out,” he said.
“It’s a source of great shame to many of us that the Taliban are now in the ascendancy.
“This is what political failure looks like. There’s been a complete failure of political leadership.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here