UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has told BBC Breakfast that London's evacuation operation was a success, despite the fact that there are still hundreds of British nationals in Afghanistan.

"We've been bringing together the MOD [Ministry of Defence] teams, not just the forces on the ground, but the civilians, the Home Office teams and there's been a great job done.

"I think history will judge 17,000 people given safe passage is without precedent, is a great job across government in very difficult circumstances.

"Right now.. I'm focused on the immediate priorities, continuing safe passage for those... the small minority, but nonetheless significant number, who haven't yet been able to get out," Raab said.

The final UK flight left on Saturday, bringing to an end the country's 20-year military involvement in Afghanistan.

There have been weeks of uncertainty since the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan, with questions over what the new government will look like.

But Pakistan's foreign minister told a news conference today that a "consensus government will be formed in the coming days" in Afghanistan.

The Taliban have previously said they are in talks with “all factions” to reach an agreement on a future government.

Details of how the group will govern the country, and what their rule means for women, human rights, and political freedoms remain unclear.

Click here to read more about what could happen next

The sound of celebratory gunfire rang out in Kabul as the last US forces left Afghanistan last night - marking the end of their 20-year presence in the country.

Our chief international correspondent Lyse Doucet was on the ground at the time and witnessed the reaction as the news broke.

“Just listen to what is happening in the skies above us in Kabul. If that isn't confirmation [of the final US withdrawal] I don't know what is. Just listen to the crackle of gunfire,” she said.

You can watch Lyse’s report in the video below:

Frank Gardner
BBC Security Correspondent

The man believed to be seen in a car arriving in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province this week was once one of Osama Bin Laden’s closest aides.

Amin ul-Haq was chief of security for the al-Qaeda leader when the group was based there 20 years ago. He was also believed to be in charge of arms procurement.

Soon after the 9/11 attacks in 2001, the US named him a Globally Designated Terrorist and he fled across the border into Pakistan, where he was reportedly imprisoned for three years.

His return to Nangarhar province, if confirmed, will be a further reminder to the West that despite assurances by the Taliban, Afghanistan has the potential to once again become a haven for international terrorism.

A recent UN report stated that strong ethnic and marital ties existed between the Taliban and al-Qaeda.

With the Taliban now in control of most of the country, Western counter-terrorism agencies no longer have access to the same human informants they used to identify the presence of al-Qaeda and other militant bases in Afghanistan’s remoter provinces.

You can read more on the relationship between the Taliban and al-Qaeda here

As we reported earlier, Maj Gen Chris Donahue was the last US soldier to leave Afghanistan on board a C-17 aircraft on 30 August.

The commanding general of the 82nd Airborne Division has been widely praised on social media.

"This is what leadership looks like... He made sure all of the troops got out safely, first," twitted Alex Plitsas.

"First boots on the ground, last boots on the ground," wrote another Twitter user iblondeitall.

A graduate of the elite military academy at West Point, Donahue - now a two-star general - has had a long and illustrious career in the US armed forces.

He led a Delta Force squadron in Afghanistan during the so-called "surge" in 2011, and was the top special operations commander there in 2019-20.

Dohanue is also a veteran of the Iraq war in 2003-11.

Image source, Reuters

UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has denied suggestions that London had pushed the US to keep open the Kabul airport entrance targeted by a suicide bomber last week, despite warnings it was set to be attacked.

Raab told BBC Breakfast that nothing the UK had done "would have required or necessitated Abbey Gate to be left open".

This contradicts reporting by news outlet Politico on Monday, which suggested US troops had decided to keep the Abbey Gate open longer than they wanted to allow the UK to continue its accelerated evacuation operation.

The gate was attacked last Thursday, killing as many as 170 people, including 13 US troops.

"We did everything we could to negate the risk," Raab told the BBC on Tuesday.

"We also shifted the civilian team that we had in the Baron Hotel to the airport, because [being] a stone's throw away from where the terrorist attack took place, it clearly wasn't safe.

"But none of that would have required or necessitated Abbey Gate to be left open," Raab said.

At Kabul airport, one Taliban leader has claimed that "people are happy" that the militants have "brought peace" to Afghanistan, according to a clip tweeted by Tariq Ghazniwal,, external a Taliban media figure.

Anas Haqqani, from the Haqqani network that is part of the Taliban, is seen telling a reporter: "It's only natural that when there is a regime change, you will have some challenges at first".

He claims some pretended to be Taliban soldiers and robbed people's homes, but "most of them are in prison now".

"So obviously there have been minor issues. It has been a big change. You lose stuff even when you are moving houses. This was moving from one regime to another."

Since the Taliban takeover, there have been reports of Taliban violence meted out against civilians, including a brutal "massacre" of members from the Hazara minority according to rights group Amnesty, external.

Hanas Haqqani also said that "certain elements don't want peace in Afghanistan, they wanted the [American] occupation to continue".

"You have witnessed that we have managed to bring peace. People are happy. I was talking to a doctor. He said, 'Hospitals used to be full of injured and dead'. That's not the case anymore."

This translation was provided by our colleagues at BBC Pashto.

Barbara Plett Usher
BBC News, Washington

Here at the State Department, diplomats have accomplished a lot, moving heaven and earth to get as many people out of Kabul as possible in the past two weeks. That mission will continue with diplomatic means now that the military is gone, carried out by people armed with skill and dedication.

President Joe Biden said the mission was accomplished years ago, with the killing of Osama bin Laden and the degrading of al-Qaeda.

He said he would no longer put American troops in the middle of a civil war.

But I remember hearing such language years ago, not so long after the 2001 invasion, when I was based in the region. Journalists and analysts there said the Americans had joined one side of a civil war against the Taliban. The US should not have treated the Taliban like Al Qaeda, I was told. They are Islamist fighters but not international terrorists.

I’m thinking of that now. There’s no question the US mission empowered those oppressed by the Taliban. But 20 years later, it’s the Taliban that’s celebrating.

Image source, Getty Images

The BBC's Secunder Kermani in Kabul says Afghans - who have woken up with no international troop presence in their country for the first time in nearly 20 years - are anxious about the future.

"The Taliban have yet to announce a new government, have yet to announce a new system of government. My sources are telling me that it's quite possible that they will announce the establishment of an Islamic Emirate like they had in the 1990s," he told BBC World News.

Cash is also in short supply, with huge crowds gathering at ATMs. Withdrawals have been capped because of the rising demand. People are waiting for hours early in the morning to withdraw a small amount of their savings.

"People are really getting quite desperate. One man telling me he was worried about being able to put food on the table for his children. Another woman breaking down in tears. A substantial number of Afghans even though evacuation flights have ended, are still trying to leave the country. Many of the people who were leaving telling me that their primary reason to leave was actually the poor state of the economy," he added.

"Many people telling me they think the Taliban has adopted a more conciliatory attitude in public than what they had anticipated, than what they had feared but they're not sure how the Taliban will behave going forward, now that international troops are leaving, now that potentially some of the international focus on Afghanistan is going to shift".

The UK's foreign secretary says there are still hundreds of UK nationals in Afghanistan - days after the country's last evacuation flight left the capital Kabul.

Dominic Raab told BBC Breakfast those left behind - a figure in the "low hundreds" - were mainly the "more complex cases", such as large family groups or those without documentation.

On top of this, there are still others hoping to come to the UK because of their work with the British government, or through the resettlement scheme.

Raab stressed that the government is still hoping to evacuate everyone who is eligible, and has been in contact with third countries that could serve as a route to the UK.

On top of this, he said the government was "going to hold the Taliban to their assurances" that people would be allowed safe passage.

Raab also defended the two decades spent in Afghanistan, pointing to successes in access to education, maternal mortality and the fact the country had not been used as a base for terrorists in years.

Hello to our readers waking up in the UK and Europe. In Afghanistan, it is the first morning of a new era under Taliban control, following America's departure.

Here's what you need to know about the last few hours:

• The US flew out its last military plane just after midnight on Tuesday, bringing to a close its longest war ever.
• Shortly after their departure, Taliban fighters streamed into Kabul airport to claim the ground and the disabled military equipment left behind by the US. Others celebrated across the city, firing guns into the air.
• This morning, members of the Taliban leadership strode across the tarmac at Hamid Karzai airport to declare victory and congratulate their fighters
• Spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid praised the insurgents for “gaining independence” and said his government wished to have “good relations with the US and the world”.

• But with the Americans gone, this is now a worrying, uncertain period for women, children, and human rights activists under Taliban rule
• There is widespread anxiety about what the hardline Taliban government will look like, and how it will act within its Islamic law framework
• The US said it had evacuated about 123,000 civilians including 6,000 American citizens in what was its largest non-combatant evacuation in US army history
• But around 100 to 250 American citizens remain, said Secretary of State Anthony Blinken who wasn’t able to confirm exact numbers.
• US President Joe Biden had promised to get every American out, so the early end to the evacuation has sparked widespread criticism
• Some Americans and Afghans who were approved to leave struggled to get to the airport because they were blocked by Taliban at checkpoints, according to some witness reports
• Mr Biden is due to give a public address on the end of the war today

Image source, Getty Images

The US says America has begun a new chapter of engagement with Afghanistan, which would be led by diplomacy.

Shortly after the last American flight left Kabul, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken stressed that the Taliban would have to respect the rights of women.

But Lina AbiRafeh, a women's rights expert who worked in Afghanistan from 2002 to 2006 says women are already living in fear.

"The fear is crippling, and the uncertainty is an inhibitor - people just do not want to be outside. At the same time, women who were active in the health sector have been asked to come out and start working and they are doing so but they remain apprehensive as well," Ms AbiRafeh told BBC World's Newsday programme.

She added that there was so much hope in the country before the takeover, but that the younger generation could really suffer.

"Afghan women have been out and working and really showcasing their talents, and gaining all these new freedoms. And all of that right now is in jeopardy with what's happening in the country. So it's extremely worrying for them, especially for a younger generation of women who did not experience the abuses or the restrictions of the Taliban," she said.

Vikas Pandey
BBC News, Delhi

Image source, Getty Images

Mazar-i-Sharif, often described as the cultural capital of Afghanistan, is witnessing considerable curbs in freedoms that people enjoyed before the Taliban's takeover.

Mazar wears many hats - it is believed to be the birthplace of Islamic mystic poet Jalaluddin Rumi and it's also a place which has traditionally been a hub of anti-Taliban resistance.

Hasan*, who has been telling the BBC about the experience of living under the Taliban rule, talks about how much things have changed in such a short time.

"Restaurants are open now, but you hardly see women in them, you miss the usual sight of youngsters, including girls, glued to their mobile phones watching films, playing video games, or making content for social media."

It's hard to believe the pace at which such freedoms have been upended. I visited Mazar-i-Sharif in 2014 and found it to be a vibrant city. Shops were selling modern clothing for both women and men. Electronic shops were full of modern gadgets,

And one could find all kinds of cuisines - Italian, Indian and German. It's heartbreaking to hear people's stories about fear - the fear of never being able to live the life they lived before the Taliban arrived.

*Name has been changed to protect identity

As the last US plane left Afghanistan there were still American citizens and eligible Afghans trying to get into the airport, officials have said.

In a press conference earlier, General McKenzie, head of the US forces confirmed there were an estimated 100-250 Americans who either couldn’t get to the airport on time or couldn’t get onto a plane.

One US army veteran who says he's been helping coordinate rescues from his Connecticut home said the Taliban refused to let many pass in the end. He had been in touch with many of them, he tweeted.

“The Taliban just became simply impossible to coordinate with towards the end. They refused to cooperate outside the gates," he said.

The BBC has not independently verified his claims.

Alex Plitsas, the veteran, has also said he is still being contacted by Americans wishing to get out, but some had not registered with US authorities. “We can’t rescue people we don’t know are there," he said.

Tariq Ghazniwal, who runs a Taliban propaganda website, has been posting clips of the militant group's leaders at Kabul airport.In one of them, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid is seen addressing a group of fighters in full combat gear.

He is seen thanking them for their efforts and congratulating them for "gaining independence".

"We are proud of your sacrifices. This is because of the hardships you and our leaders suffered. It is because of (our leaders') honesty and patience that we are independent today," he said.

"So I congratulate you and the Afghan nation. Our wish is that our country will never be invaded again. We want peace, prosperity and a true Islamic system."

He also urged the Taliban fighters to "be gentle" with the Afghan people.

"I would also like to ask you to be careful in how you deal with your people. This nation has suffered a lot. The Afghan people deserve to be treated with love and sympathy. So, be gentle to them. We are their servants. We have not imposed ourselves on them."

This translation was provided by our colleagues at BBC Pashto.

The US army made sure to disable their aircraft and armed vehicles left behind at Kabul Airport before they flew out on Monday night, officials say.

Mission commander General Kenneth McKenzie said troops “demilitarized” 73 aircraft, 70 armoured tactical vehicles and 27 Humvees so they wouldn’t be used by the Taliban.

"Those aircraft will never fly again... They'll never be able to be operated by anyone," he said.

A video posted by a Los Angeles Times reporter showed the Taliban entering an airport hangar and inspecting US aircraft.

The US also disabled its high-tech rocket defence system – which it left behind at the airport too. The C-RAM system sprung into action on Monday to counter an Islamic State rocket attack on the airport.

As we reported earlier, Taliban fighters in the past weeks have been seen with a range of US-produced military weapons and vehicles. These had originally been provided to the Afghan national army, but when those forces quickly surrendered, they fell into the hands of the Taliban instead.

Some members of the Taliban leadership have reportedly arrived at Kabul airport, and have been speaking to reporters on the runway.

AFP news agency quoted the Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid as saying: "Congratulations to Afghanistan... this victory belongs to us all."

"We want to have good relations with the US and the world. We welcome good diplomatic relations with them all," he added.

Image source, AFP

After nearly 20 years, US troops have left Afghanistan.

Take a look back at the announcement from Gen Kenneth F McKenzie, the head of US Central Command.

Vikas Pandey
BBC News

Image source, EPA

Herat, Afghanistan's third-largest city, was a bustling centre of economic activity until it fell to the Taliban.

Residents tell the BBC that the local economy has now slowed down and "people are living in a state of fear".

Habeeb*, who worked in communications, says people are scared to even leave their houses.

"The Taliban are present everywhere. I am running out of my savings. I have no job and so many like me need desperate help."

The Taliban are asking people to return to work but locals say that "the entire administrative system is destroyed".

Habeeb says he has been hearing about the Taliban giving severe punishments to people even for petty crimes.

"The situation is much worse in smaller districts and villagers where there is no oversight from the media," Habeeb addsa.

*Name has been changed to protect identity