Yorkshire MPs share harrowing stories of people trying to escape Afghanistan

The operation from Kabul airport will continue as planned ahead of the August 31 deadline, Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed last night, despite the “barbaric” terror attack nearby which killed “dozens” of people.

A US general said 12 US service members have been killed and 15 more have been injured in the attack in the vicinity of Kabul airport. Many more civilians are feared dead. Politicians trying to assist have said it is “a question of hours now, not days” left to get people out, and have asked officials to “move heaven and earth” to bring people to safety.

Afghanistan veteran and Barnsley Central MP Dan Jarvis described recent days as “pretty grim” and has been trying to provide assistance to those he fought alongside, some of whom, he says “don’t know if they will be alive tomorrow”.

He told The Yorkshire Post he is particularly concerned about “those members of the special forces who are especially vulnerable”.

“I’ve pressed the Secretary of State and others to move heaven and earth to make sure that those especially vulnerable are afforded every opportunity to be evacuated,” he said.

“But the system is massively creaking under the weight.”

The former Army major, who deployed twice to Afghanistan, called the attack at the airport “devastating but not surprising” and said of his former colleagues: “They are at risk, they are being threatened, they’re desperately trying to get out.

"A tiny proportion of them have been processed but the majority of them are now on the run in Afghanistan in fear for their future convinced they will be hunted down and killed. These are people we recruited and trained specifically to take on the Taliban.”

He added: “There are people I know, people I served with who are in mortal peril today, who don’t know if they will be alive tomorrow.”

Middlesbrough MP Andy McDonald added: “I’ve got another family whose relative was beheaded in front of them, I’ve got families stranded there up to their waists in sewage in the drainage channel on their way to the airport who are absolutely desperate.

“I’ve got infant children 12-months-old and five-months-old without the ability to travel with their British national parents out of the country. I raised it directly with Dominic Raab (on Tuesday) – I appear to be making some progress.

“We have successfully secured the return of two families and hopefully now a third.

“But their stories are just heartbreaking and harrowing. I’ve had an elderly chap on dialysis whose health is deteriorating – you can appreciate they’re out there in the heat dehydrating. It’s just sheer panic and terror.”

Leeds Central MP and former Shadow Foreign Secretary Hilary Benn also stressed the importance of the time pressure, and said “it’s a question of hours now and not days”.

“The focus understandably has been on British nationals and the ARAP (Afghan relocations and assistance policy) scheme but we can all see from the television screen how difficult it has been for people to get to the airport.”

The decision to continue with the airlift was announced following a top-level Government COBRA meeting yesterday afternoon after the explosion, as Mr Johnson told reporters officials would “keep going up until the last moment”.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said at least 13 people were killed and 15 wounded in twin suicide attacks outside the airport, which has been the centre of the effort to help people flee Afghanistan.

Speaking from Downing Street, Mr Johnson said: “The conclusion is that we’re able to continue with the programme in the way that we’ve been running it, according to the timetable we’ve got.

“That’s what we’re going to do because the overwhelming majority of those who are eligible have now been extracted from Afghanistan.

“We’re going to work flat out, the military, the Foreign Office teams, the Home Office, the Border Force teams that are there getting people through as fast as they can still.

“We’re going to keep going up until the last moment, but I want to repeat what I’ve been saying over the last few days: we also fully expect that those who want to leave Afghanistan after this phase one, if you like, are allowed to do that by the Taliban.”

Mr Johnson said: “Clearly, what this attack shows is the importance of continuing that work in as fast and as efficient manner as possible in the hours that remain to us, and that’s what we’re going to do.”

The US Central Command said the evacuation would continue, despite the attack.