British Government Sending 600 Paratroopers To Evacuate Brits And Former Afghan Staff

In this picture taken on August 13, 2021, Taliban fighters stand on a vehicle along the roadside in Herat. The British Government has said it will be sending 600 troops to Afghanistan to help British nationals flee the country  

Daily Mail: Last flights out of Kabul: Six hundred UK paratroopers will be sent to Afghanistan to get Brits out alongside 3,000 US soldiers evacuating Americans as rampant Taliban take both Lashkar Gar and Kandahar 

* The British Government has said the troops will support the evacuation of Brits and former Afghan staff 

* The United States is also sending troops to help evacuate its citizens as the Taliban continue to gain ground 

* Taliban have captured Afghanistan's Lashkar Gah, capital of the southern province of Helmand, on Friday 

* Second city Kandahar and strategically important Herat both captured by the Taliban after bombardment 

* Taliban flag was seen flying over the city's police HQ, while the group said it had seized weapons and vehicles 

* Taliban sweeping across Afghanistan, capturing swathes of territory as isolated government troops surrender 

* But US warns the Islamists may be executing some of those who surrendered, in what would be a war crime 

* Video recorded last month did appear to show Taliban fighters gunning down 22 surrendering commandos 

* News emerged as Afghan government said it had offered the Taliban a power-sharing deal that would see the jihadists join the government in return for stopping the fighting 

* The US has ordered all citizens to leave as soon as possible due to 'security conditions' within the country 

The British Government has said it will be sending 600 troops to Afghanistan to help British nationals flee as the Taliban continue to seize territory around the country, with Kandahar and Lashkar Gah - the capital of the southern province of Helmand - the latest to fall to the insurgency. 

'I have authorised the deployment of additional military personnel to support the diplomatic presence in Kabul, assist British nationals to leave the country and support the relocation of former Afghan staff who risked their lives serving alongside us,' Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said. 

Wallace described the deployment was a 'pre-planned phase' to 'enable the next step of leaving'. 

However, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) appeared to contradict this, saying that the additional deployment was 'in light of the increasing violence and rapidly deteriorating security environment in the country'.  

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WNU Editor: The British Prime Minster has called an emergency Cobra meeting to address the growing Afghan crisis.... PM to hold emergency Cobra meeting over worsening situation in Afghanistan (SKY News). More here .... Boris Johnson calls emergency Cobra meeting over Afghanistan collapse: 'This is not our finest hour', say MPs as Afghans rush to escape Taliban as they sweep across country weeks after troop withdrawal (Daily Mail).