Mr Bryant says "every MP" has had cases of British nationals contacting them seeking help to get out. He asks what the government is asking people in such a situation to do.

Mr Raab says the UK is working to secure "safe passage" for its nationals out of the country, and has worked with allies at the UN to put pressure on the Taliban to allow this to happen.

He says Foreign Office ministers have spoken to ministers in neighbouring countries about allowing them to cross the border.

He says a "rapid deployment team" from the UK government is expected to go to countries where people are expected to head to, such as Pakistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.

Raab facing pressure on numbers of people 'left behind'published at 14:51 British Summer Time 1 September 2021

14:51 BST 1 September 2021

Ione Wells
Westminster Correspondent, BBC News

Labour MP Chris Bryant grilled Dominic Raab for specific numbers of people who have been left behind in Afghanistan - those who were eligible to come to the UK but did not manage to get out.

It comes after MPs, including Mr Bryant, say their constituency inboxes have been full of cases of people still stuck in Afghanistan.

Many of them have brought these cases directly to ministers' attention in calls over the last few days.

Mr Raab claimed while he can't put a number on how many people have been left behind, the prime minister was correct to say the "overwhelming" majority of people who worked with the UK are now out.

The lack of specific numbers though will further fuel concerns from backbench MPs that the figures have been vastly underestimated and that there could be as many as 7,000 eligible Afghan applicants left behind - a claim Dominic Raab has previously rejected.

MPs are continuing to press Dominic Raab for answers about what went wrong in Afghanistan - here are the latest lines:

• Raab says he is "reticent about giving a firm figure" for the number of eligible people left behind and says "any number" left stranded is "too many"
• He insists the UK was right to prioritise who it evacuated, starting with British nationals, then Afghans who worked for the UK government and finally those at risk of persecution
• He says ministers have "huge compassion" for the plight of people in Afghanistan but it would be "wrong to just open the door" for people to come to the UK
• The UK has sent a Rapid Deployment Team out to service those areas and third countries where it expects people to arrive.

Afghan interpreters working for the British forces hope for a "brighter future" in the UK.

Read more about Nazir, one of dozens of Afghans who have been resettled in Newport Pagnell in Buckinghamshire.

Mr Bryant asks for a "best estimate" of the number of UK nationals and their family members, Afghans who might qualify for resettlement because they helped the UK, and vulnerable people who haven't made it out.

The foreign secretary sticks by his previous figure of the "low hundreds" - prompting the MPs to question precisely what this might mean.

He repeats that a precise figure is hard to calculate, but says the UK has succeeded in getting the "overwhelming" number out.

But he adds that "any number" of people left behind is "too many".

Mr Bryant asks whether Mr Raab was "already on holiday" on 11 August.

He says this is when the US advised that the Taliban was likely to seize control of the whole country.

Mr Raab says the possibility of this happening was already part of intelligence assessments.

He says he has given a "full statement" on his holiday, and will not get into a "fishing expedition" over the details of his time away.

Labour's Chris Bryant accuses the government of not putting enough effort into contingency planning in case Kabul fell to the Taliban quicker than most people expected.

Mr Raab rejects this, adding that applications for Afghans who helped the UK to apply for resettlement under the so-called Arap scheme, external were "speeded up" from April onwards.

He also says the government changed its travel advice.

MPs express frustration at lack of precisionpublished at 14:33 British Summer Time 1 September 2021

14:33 BST 1 September 2021

Ione Wells
Westminster Correspondent, BBC News

MPs have been pushing Dominic Raab for clarity and precision on certain key questions.

When, specifically, did a foreign minister last visit key neighbouring countries like Uzbekistan or Tajikistan? How many Brits and Afghans eligible for evacuation are still in Afghanistan?

Their frustration that the foreign secretary says he isn't able to provide some of the precise figures and dates they are after is apparent.

Equally evident is the tense dynamic between committee chair Tom Tugendhat MP and Dominic Raab.

A particularly difficult moment for Mr Raab came when asked by Mr Tugendhat about a key risk report from late July that spoke of a rapid Taliban advance that could lead to a return to power.

When Mr Raab asked for the source of this he was met with a short response: "It's your principle risk report."

Another Conservative, Bob Seely, asks why the intelligence about the Taliban advance was so wrong.

Mr Raab repeats his suggestion of optimism bias and questions assumptions about the Taliban's intentions.

He says that after 20 years of "blood, sweat, tears and toil" there was a desire, a determination to make it work.

Mr Seely asks whether it is fair to say the UK was "caught slightly on the hop".

The foreign secretary says the Foreign Office tries to plan in a very professional way but when things go wrong you need to look at how you correct that.

What have we learned so far from the foreign secretary's questioning by MPs?

• Dominic Raab says he will be "leaving to go to the region" after his appearance before the committee but provides no more details of where exactly he will visit
• He says the central intelligence assessment in the run up to Nato troops pulling out was that there would be a "steady deterioration" in the security situation in August, but it was "unlikely Kabul would fall this year"
• He admits ministers are "not confident with any precision at all" about the number of British citizens left behind in Afghanistan but estimates it is in the "hundreds, possibly the mid to low hundreds"
• There were a range of assumptions and "optimism bias" about what the US would do and how the Taliban would behave which he says he "always cautioned against".

Conservative MP Alicia Kearns asks "what went so horribly wrong" that the UK was short of allies for an alternative coalition once the United States announced its withdrawal plan.

She wants to know what could have been done better to form a viable coalition.

Mr Raab tells her he's very keen there should be a "reality check" and says there was an "optimism bias" that the Americans would change their mind.

He adds there was some "wishful thinking in some quarters" that the Biden administration would change but he always felt the election campaign had "baked in some finality".

Mr Raab says there was no viable alternative coalition once the US decided to withdraw.

Asked about the how many British citizens have been left behind in Afghanistan, Mr Raab says the government is "not confident with any precision at all" about the number.

He says the government estimates the number of British nationals left is in the "hundreds, possibly the mid to low hundreds".

But he says the precise number depends on eligibility, and this has been difficult to work out because of a lack of documentation.

Continuing, Mr Raab says the intelligence pointed towards a gradual deterioration in the situation in Afghanistan after the US ended its military presence there.

He says UK planning for the end of military operations began in April. He says contingency planning for a possible evacuation began in June - adding this was in line with Nato allies.

But he says there was "contingency planning" going on for "all assessments".

Continuing, Mr Tugendhat asks how many ministers are in countries neighbouring Afghanistan.

Mr Raab says he does not have a "travel list" to hand - but adds he is happy to provide details later.

Mr Tugendhat changes tack, asking which area of government was responsible for gathering intelligence in Afghanistan.

Mr Raab says the Joint Intelligence Committee, external provides "raw intelligence", which is "backed up" by military assessment.

He says the "central assessment" ministers were operating under was that it was likely to be a "steady deterioration" in the security situation after US troops pulled out in August, but that Kabul was "unlikely" to fall this year.

Image source, European Pressphoto Agency

The Taliban took control of Kabul on 15 August after 20 years of war.

It came after foreign forces withdrew from Afghanistan following a deal between the US and the Taliban, two decades after US forces removed the militants from power in 2001.

The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions.

Back in 2001, the US was responding to the 9/11 attacks in which nearly 3,000 people were killed. Officials identified Islamist militant group al-Qaeda, and its leader Osama Bin Laden, as responsible.

Bin Laden was in Afghanistan, under the protection of the Taliban, the Islamists who had been in power since 1996.

When they refused to hand him over, the US intervened militarily, quickly removing the Taliban and vowing to support democracy and eliminate the terrorist threat.

In 2014, at the end of what was the bloodiest year since 2001, Nato's international forces ended their combat mission, leaving responsibility for security to the Afghan army.

That gave the Taliban momentum and they seized more territory.

Peace talks between the US and the Taliban started tentatively, with the Afghan government pretty much uninvolved, and the agreement on a withdrawal came in February 2020 in Qatar.

In April 2021, the new US President Joe Biden announced that all US troops would leave Afghanistan by 11 September 2021.

In fact, the last US soldier to leave Afghanistan, Major General Chris Donahue, left on 30 August.

The last British soldiers had left a day earlier. A total of 457 died during the conflict.

Tom Tugendhat begins by asking how many government ministers are overseas.

Dominic Raab replies that he does not have the "precise detail" but the Foreign Office has a rota system to ensure they are able to cover.

Asked how many are in Afghanistan currently, Mr Raab says the government is careful about revealing ministers' travel plans.

However, he adds that he will be going "to the region" later, after his appearance has ended.

Conservative MP Tom Tugendhat, who chairs the committee and himself fought in Afghanistan, gets this afternoon’s session under way.

Image source, Reuters

Dominic Raab has been under increasing pressure over the UK's response to the crisis in Afghanistan, with his department also facing criticism for its response.

The foreign secretary has faced calls to resign from opposition parties, after it emerged he was on holiday in Crete whilst the Taliban was advancing on Kabul.

He has also been under fire for delegating a phone call over helping interpreters with his Afghan counterpart to a junior minister.

Labour has accused him of being "missing in action" during the crisis - but Mr Raab has rejected calls to quit, despite admitting that "with hindsight" he would not have gone on holiday at all.

As the foreign secretary prepares to face MPs, what questions can we expect him to be asked about his handling of the UK's withdrawal from Afghanistan?

One of the key issues is: how many people have been left behind?

Mr Raab has said it is difficult to put a number on how many didn't make it out of the country before evacuation flights stopped - but he has dismissed suggestions there could be as many as 7,000 eligible Afghans stranded in the country.

There are question marks over how the UK will process resettlement claims from Afghans who make it to neighbouring countries by land.

Will people have to risk making a potentially dangerous journey out of Afghanistan before they know if they are eligible to move to the UK?

Expect him to be probed too on whether the UK's intelligence was flawed about the speed at which the Afghan government would collapse - he has already said the assessment was "clearly wrong".

He's likely to face more difficult questions about his personal behaviour and whether he should have returned from holiday sooner as the Taliban advanced on Kabul.

He's admitted that "with hindsight" he would not have gone away, but dismissed suggestions he was "lounging on the beach" as nonsense.

Image source, Reuters

The Taliban have declared victory in Afghanistan following the withdrawal of US troops, with fighters streaming into Kabul airport on Tuesday.

British troops left the country over the weekend.

The militants have promised those who want to leave the country who have authorisation will be allowed to leave the country.

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken pledged to "hold the Taliban to their commitment".