UK plans to evacuate hundreds from Afghanistan each day

People try to get into Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan August 16, 2021. REUTERS/Stringer

REUTERS

Britain will evacuate hundreds of British nationals and eligible Afghan nationals every day, and flights out of Afghanistan will continue for as long as it is safe, Prime Minister Boris Johnson's spokesman said on Monday.

"I'd say at least hundreds every day will be leaving (on) the flights, but obviously this is a fluid situation," the spokesman said.

Asked how long Britain planned to keep such flights going, he said: "We want to obviously continue to do this as long as we are able to do so and as long as it is safe to do so."

The government COBR emergency response committee will meet later on Monday to discuss the situation in Afghanistan.

Reporting by William James and Elizabeth Piper; editing by Michael Holden