Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the UK departure from Afghanistan was “the culmination of a mission unlike anything we’ve seen in our lifetimes”.
In a video clip uploaded to Twitter on Sunday morning, Mr Johnson said: “UK troops and officials have worked around the clock to a remorseless deadline in harrowing conditions.
“They have expended all the patience and care and thought they possess to help people in fear for their lives.
“They’ve seen at first-hand barbaric terrorist attacks on the queues of people they were trying to comfort, as well as on our American friends.
“They didn’t flinch. They kept calm. They got on with the job.
“It’s thanks to their colossal exertions that this country has now processed, checked, vetted and airlifted more than 15,000 people to safety in less than two weeks.”
Addressing the families and loved ones of the British troops who “gave their all”, Mr Johnson said: “Your suffering and your hardship were not in vain.”
He added: “It was no accident that there’s been no terrorist attack launched against Britain or any other western country from Afghanistan in the last 20 years.
“It was thanks to the bravery of our Armed Forces who fought to knock out (Osama) Bin Laden’s networks.
“And, thanks to the devotion of British troops and aid workers and diplomats and others, we’ve helped educate 3.6 million girls.
“Whatever the future may hold for Afghanistan, they will have that gift for the rest of their lives, a gift they will pass on to their daughters as well as their sons.”
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