The UK will defend itself against any terrorists who use Afghanistan as a base for plots in the wake of the final withdrawal from the country, Dominic Raab has said.

       The final evacuation flight flew out of Kabul airport just after midnight local time, bringing to an end the US's presence in the country that lasted nearly two decades.

       There are fears that the rushed withdrawal could raise the risk of future terror attacks. The Pentagon has estimated there are at least 2,000 “hardcore” Islamic State fighters on the ground in Afghanistan, on top of those who had been let out of prison by the Taliban in recent days.

       The head of the Royal Air Force told The Telegraph the UK could be involved in airstrikes against Islamic State Khorasan - otherwise known as Isis-K - the group that was behind the attack on Kabul airport, which killed nearly 200 people.

       RAF Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Wigston said: "Ultimately what this boils down to is that we've got to be able to play a global role in the Global Coalition to Defeat Daesh [IS], whether it's strike, or whether it's moving troops or equipment into a particular country, at scale and at speed."

       Asked about his comments this morning, the Foreign Secretary told Sky News: "The UK retains the right to exercise self-defence and that includes terrorists."

       He added that the use of force must be "proportionate and ne

       cessary", as he called on the Taliban to live up to its "explicit agreement” not to create a "safe haven, let alone a base, for terrorist attacks".

       Asked if the UK would be looking to neuter such threats from the air rather than on ground, Mr Raab said: "I am not going to get into any operational speculation.

       "We retain the right of self-defence against any groups which will attack us, and that must include, in relation to terrorist groups operating from abroad."

       He highlighted the fact that Afghanistan had not been used as a base for a foreign terrorist attack over the last 20 years as one of the "real, tangible" benefits from the UK's military action.

       Mr Raab added: "We have still got that record of 20 years of no terrorist attacks from within Afghanistan, we now need to see the Taliban live up to what it said about no safe haven for terrorist groups."

       He said that the international community would put pressure for that to continue, but noted that we are only now "starting to get the contours" of post-withdrawal life as allies "exercise the maximum moderating influence on the Taliban".

       Speaking later to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, the Cabinet minister suggested MPs would get a say in any future action.

       "There are standard operating procedures of dealing with an emerging crisis like that," he said. "Of course, the House of Commons debates potential military interventions all the time.

       "I don't think it’s worth getting ahead of ourselves on this," Mr Raab added. "What the Admiral was doing was setting out fact we do still have the military hard power and the right to exercise self-defence, albeit of course we won't have the footprint in Afghanistan we had when we, the Americans and other Nato colleagues were there."

       He also denied claims the UK's evacuation plan may have contributed to the risk of a terror attack at Kabul airport, telling Sky News the UK "co-ordinated very closely with the US, in particular around the Isis-K threat which we anticipated, although tragically were not able to prevent".

       He added: "It is just not true to suggest that other than securing our civilians inside the airport that we were pushing to leave the gate open."