People fleeing the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan for safety in Britain are taking 24 to 48 hours to make it safely across Kabul for evacuation – and many have turned back home, scared to travel, defence sources have acknowledged, The Guardian reports.
Difficulties in getting the remaining Britons, Afghans and others to the airport became the most significant hurdle on the fifth day of the RAF airlift amid renewed speculation over whether it will last to the end of the month as planned.
The struggles have made it hard to fill up RAF flights, which are typically running at 75% to 80% capacity, sometimes with third country nationals on board to make better use of space.
But defence sources said no RAF plane had left Kabul airport nearly empty after a Briton still in Afghanistan – Pen Farthing, a former Royal Marine – tweeted a picture of a nearly empty plane repatriating his wife. It is believed to have been a Norwegian military flight.
