On Sunday, UK Ambassador Sir Laurie Bristow, one of the last diplomats to depart from Afghanistan, said that the UK’s embassy in Afghanistan would be relocated to Qatar.
The departure of Bristow signaled the end of the United Kingdom’s presence in Afghanistan. The British diplomat promised to reopen his country’s embassy “as soon as possible” in an online announcement.
“We have had to leave Afghanistan for now and the embassy will operate from Qatar for the time being,” he said in a Twitter announcement upon his arrival to the UK.
“But we will continue to stand by the people of Afghanistan, working on humanitarian, diplomatic and security work and, above all, bringing Afghans and British nationals who still need our support to the UK, and we will be putting pressure on the Taliban to allow safe passage for those people,” he also said.
Since June, the British ambassador has worked at the UK Consulate in Kabul.
Shortly before his arrival in the UK, Britain’s last military flight left Kabul two weeks after the Taliban took control of the capital, evacuating more than 15,000 people.
Following the departure of the final British flight, Defence Minister Ben Wallace remarked that “We should be proud of our armed forces, welcoming to those coming for a better life and sad for those left behind,”
On Friday, Wallace estimated that between 800 and 1,100 Afghans who had cooperated with the UK were unable to leave the country by plane and promised to assist them in leaving by land.
