UK in Talks with Taliban over Safe Passage for Remaining Nationals

Britain opened talks, on Wednesday, with the Taliban over the "safe passage" of its remaining nationals and allies out of Afghanistan.

The British government has dispatched senior civil servant Simon Gass to meet with Taliban representatives in Doha, according to AFP.

Gass is "meeting with senior Taliban representatives to underline the importance of safe passage out of Afghanistan for British nationals, and those Afghans who have worked with us," a government spokesperson told AFP on Wednesday.

Britain's mission came to an end on Saturday, when its last military flight left Kabul after evacuating more than 15,000 people in the two weeks since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan.

On his part, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has come under pressure after many Afghans who helped NATO and are eligible to move to Britain were left stranded in Afghanistan.

Johnson said the UK departure from Afghanistan was the culmination of a mission, unlike anything they have seen in their lifetimes, adding that he felt a “great sense of regret” about those left behind there.

“Of course, as we come down to the final hours of the operation, there will sadly be people who haven’t got through, people who might qualify,” he has previously noted.

“What I would say to them is that we will shift heaven and earth to help them get out; we will do whatever we can in the second phase,” the prime minister emphasized.