The last dedicated flight purely to evacuate civilians from Afghanistan has left Kabul, the Ministry of Defence has confirmed.
Further flights leaving from the city’s airport would be able to carry evacuees but would also be transporting UK diplomatic staff and military personnel as the operation winds down.
It comes after UK ambassador to Afghanistan Laurie Bristow said it was "time to close this phase" of the evacuation effort, which has seen nearly 15,000 people brought to safety.
Boris Johnson on Friday night spoke of his “great sense of regret” at those left behind – while Foreign Affairs Committee chair 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.
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”.
Asked whether he could have done better, he told BBC Breakfast: “In the last week, probably not, but this has been a sprint finish after a not exactly sprint start.
“There’s been many of us giving pressure to improve the processing of people who we think we have a duty of care to over the months and years.
“There are going to be questions to be asked to the Foreign Secretary about the processing in the UK in recent weeks that we’re going to have to see what the answers are.
“I’m sure that the Foreign Secretary, Defence Secretary and the Home Secretary are all looking at this very carefully. I know, because I spoke to all three in the last 12 hours, that they are really doing their best to get this last level of processing done.”
Ambassador Sir Laurie - who has remained in Afghanistan processing those who needed to leave the country - said: "The team here have been working until the very last moment to evacuate British nationals, Afghans and others at risk.
"Since 13 August, we've brought nearly 15,000 people to safety, and about 1,000 military, diplomatic, civilian personnel have worked on Operation Pitting in Kabul, many, many more elsewhere.
"Thursday's terrorist attack was a reminder of the difficult and dangerous conditions in which Operation Pitting has been done. And sadly I attended here yesterday the ceremony to pay our respects to the 13 US soldiers who died."
Shadow defence secretary John Healey said he expected all remaining British troops, who are facilitating the evacuation, to be withdrawn from the country within 24 hours.
World news in pictures Show all 50
1/50World news in pictures
World news in pictures 27 August 2021 Soldiers take a selfie before a military parade in Chisinau, Moldova
EPA
World news in pictures 26 August 2021 Smoke rises from the site of a suspected suicide bombing outside Kabul airport in Afghanistan
AP
World news in pictures 25 August 2021 Egypt’s Ibrahim Elhusseiny Hamadtou in action during his Men’s Singles Class 6 Group E Table Tennis match at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games
PA
World news in pictures 24 August 2021 People take pictures of fireworks outside the stadium during the opening ceremony of the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo
Reuters
World news in pictures 23 August 2021 Staff members spraying disinfectant at a school ahead of the new semester in Bozhou, China’s eastern Anhui province
AFP/Getty
World news in pictures 22 August 2021 A Taliban fighter stands guard at a checkpoint in the Wazir Akbar Khan area in the city of Kabul, Afghanistan
AP
World news in pictures 21 August 2021 Mexican firefighters known as "Topos" work in the early morning hours in a search and rescue mission, amid the rubble from last week's 7.2 magnitude earthquake, in Les Cayes, Haiti
AP
World news in pictures 20 August 2021 Bangladeshi vendor sells a religious item during a Muharram event at the premises of Hussaini Dalan in Dhaka, Bangladesh
EPA
World news in pictures 19 August 2021 Law enforcement officers with rifles take position near the US Capitol building in Washington DC as police investigate a possible explosive device in a truck near the heart of American government
AP
World news in pictures 18 August 2021 A Taliban fighter patrols in Wazir Akbar Khan in the city of Kabul, Afghanistan
AP
World news in pictures 17 August 2021 Art students paint messages of solidarity with people at risk in Afghanistan’s crisis outside an art school in Mumbai
AFP/Getty
World news in pictures 16 August 2021 Afghan people climb atop a plane as they wait at the Kabul airport
AFP via Getty
World news in pictures 15 August 2021 Taliban fighters patrol inside the city of Kandahar province in southwest Afghanistan
AP
World news in pictures 14 August 2021 A collapsed building is seen in Les Cayes, Haiti following a 7.2 magnitude earthquake which left at least 29 people dead
Reuters
World news in pictures 13 August 2021 Perseids are seen next to Milky Way during the annual Perseid meteor shower at Tres Mares peak, in Cantabria, northern Spain
EPA
World news in pictures 12 August 2021 A woman sits along the broken steps of a partially-collapsed building destroyed by bombardment during the May 2021 conflict between Hamas and Israel, in Gaza City
AFP via Getty
World news in pictures 11 August 2021 People stranded at the Pakistani-Afghan border wait for its reopening after it was closed by the Talibans, who have taken over the control of the Afghan side of the border at Chaman, Pakistan
EPA
World news in pictures 10 August 2021 Supporters cheer outside French football club Paris Saint-Germain’s Parc des Princes stadium in Paris after Argentinian football player Lionel Messi landed in Le Bourget airport to sign for the club
AFP/Getty
World news in pictures 9 August 2021 People perform a folk dance to traditional music as they celebrate the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples in Mumbai, India
EPA
World news in pictures 8 August 2021 Thank you messages is displayed inside the stadium during the Olympic closing ceremony in Tokyo
Reuters
World news in pictures 7 August 2021 Pro-democracy protesters clash with police during a demonstration demanding Thai prime minister Prayut Chan-Ochas and King Maha Vajiralongkorn be held accountable for the governments failure to contain the Covid-19 outbreak, in Bangkok
AFP via Getty
World news in pictures 6 August 2021 Members of local NPO release paper lanterns on Motoyasu River in front of beside the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall, as it was known before 1945, and now called the Atomic Bomb Dome, as the city marks the 76th anniversary of the world's first atomic bomb attack
AFP/Getty
World news in pictures 5 August 2021 The Men's Decathletes pose for a photo following their competition on day thirteen of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Olympic Stadium in Tokyo, Japan
Getty
World news in pictures 4 August 2021 Maronite clergymen pray near damaged grain silos at the port of Lebanon’s capital on the first anniversary of the blast that ravaged the port and the city
AFP/Getty
World news in pictures 3 August 2021 An underwater view shows France’s Charlotte and Laura Tremble during the women’s duet technical routine artistic swimming event at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games
AFP/Getty
World news in pictures 2 August 2021 Germany compete in the women's team pursuit qualifying event at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Izu Velodrome
AFP/Getty
World news in pictures 1 August 2021 enezuela's Yulimar Rojas competes in the women's triple jump final during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Rojas took gold and broke the Olympic and World Record in the process
AFP/Getty
World news in pictures 31 July 2021 Elaine Thompson-Herah celebrates as she crosses the finish line to win the gold medal ahead of Jamaican teammate Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce in the women's 100m final at the Tokyo Olympic Games
Reuters
World news in pictures 30 July 2021 Athletes compete during the men’s 3000m Steeplechase at the Tokyo Olympics
Reuters
World news in pictures 29 July 2021 Athletes compete in the BMX men’s Olympic quarter-finals run at the Ariake Urban Sports Park in Tokyo
AFP/Getty
World news in pictures 28 July 2021 A picture taken with a drone shows researchers from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Utrecht University investigating a dead fin whale found in the harbor of Terneuzen, The Netherlands
EPA
World news in pictures 27 July 2021 People wearing face masks to protect against the spread of the coronavirus walk past extra papers reporting on Japanese gold medalists at Tokyo Olympics
AP
World news in pictures 26 July 2021 The ball hits Thailand's Orawan Paranang's face as she competes against Japan's Kasumi Ishikawa during her women's singles round 3 table tennis match at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games
AFP via Getty Images
World news in pictures 25 July 2021 A woman walks in the rubble after flooding due to heavy rains in Dinant, Belgium, a week after more than 30 people were killed in floods in the country
EPA
World news in pictures 24 July 2021 A firefighter uses a drip torch to light a backfire in an effort to stop the spread of the Dixie fire in Prattville, California
AFP/Getty
World news in pictures 23 July 2021 An overview shows Japan's tennis player Naomi Osaka lighting the flame of hope in the Olympic Cauldron during the opening ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, at the Olympic Stadium, in Tokyo
AFP via Getty
World news in pictures 22 July 2021 People wade through a flooded street following a heavy rain in Zhengzhou, in China’s Henan province
AFP/Getty
World news in pictures 21 July 2021 People celebrate in Brisbane, Australia, following an announcement by the International Olympic Committee that the city was picked to host the 2032 Olympics
AAP Image via AP
World news in pictures 20 July 2021 Muslims attending the Eid Al-Adha prayer at Skenderbej Square in Tirana
AFP/Getty
World news in pictures 19 July 2021 Muslim pilgrims gather on Mount Mercy on the plains of Arafat during the annual Haj pilgrimage outside the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia
Reuters
World news in pictures 18 July 2021 People protest against the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan
Reuters
World news in pictures 17 July 2021 A long exposure photograph shows Muslim pilgrims circumambulating around the Kaaba, Islam's holiest shrine, at the Grand mosque in the holy Saudi city of Mecca during the annual hajj pilgrimage
AFP/Getty
World news in pictures 16 July 2021 A van crushed by the torrents is pressed against a tree after the floods caused major damage in Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, western Germany
AFP/Getty
World news in pictures 15 July 2021 A staff member sits at an interactive digital installation "Fire / Forest and Spiral of Resonating Lamps in the Forest" during a media preview of "teamLab: A Forest Where Gods Live" at the lobby of Mifuneyama Rakuen Hotel, Takeo Hot Springs in Saga prefecture
AFP/Getty
World news in pictures 14 July 2021 Pupils of the Special Military School of Saint-Cyr march during the annual Bastille Day military parade on the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris
AFP/Getty
World news in pictures 13 July 2021 Rescuers look for bodies after a catastrophic blaze erupted Monday at a coronavirus hospital ward in the al-Hussein Teaching Hospital, in Nasiriyah, Iraq
AP
World news in pictures 12 July 2021 People try to recover a car damaged during flash floods after heavy monsoon rains in Bhagsunag, a popular tourist town in Himachal Pradesh, India
AP
World news in pictures 11 July 2021 Police cars are seen overturned in the street in the framework of a demonstration against Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel in Havana
AFP via Getty Images
World news in pictures 10 July 2021 Tanya and Evance Chanda from Mechanicsville look on as a statue of Confederate General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson is removed after years of a legal battle over the contentious monument, in Charlottesville, Virginia
Reuters
World news in pictures 9 July 2021 Hundreds of Haitians gather in front of the US embassy in the hope that they will be granted a visa to leave their country, due the uncertainty of what may happen after the assassination of President Jovenel Moise, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti
EPA
The Labour MP said the operation had been “very dangerous and desperate” as he praised the troops involved.
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.
Recommended How Doreen Lawrence relentlessly pursued justice for her son Minister announces red wall recruitment drive in latest cash injection for Tory areas Sadiq Khan tells organisers of London arms fair to cancel event and not come back
“And I know those troops in particular will feel our failure on this as a country is a betrayal of many of those who risked their own lives to work alongside us.
“And I think what’s important now is that we may be giving up the airport, but we cannot give up on the Afghan people or fighting to try and protect the gains that they and our troops and our diplomats and aid workers have worked so hard over two decades to gain in Afghanistan.”