Reino Unido bate em retirada do Afeganistão, 13 anos de invasão.
Foi na madrugada, é a quarta vez em 175 anos.
The last British soldiers have been airlifted out of Camp Bastion, as Britain’s base in Helmand was closed down. The “tactical withdrawal” of hundreds of British soldiers came a day after the end of Britain’s war in Afghanistan and was carried out in almost complete secrecy, amid serious security concerns. In a massive operation that took months of planning, the last military equipment in Camp Bastion and the remaining members of the Armed Forces were flown out on 17 waves of helicopters and airplanes, as the Afghans took control of the base. Chinooks, Hercules planes and US Sea Stallions were used in the massive airlift to Kandahar, the US-led base in the neighbouring province. Tornadoes and Apache helicopters flew overhead to provide protection from the air. All British troops, apart from special forces and a team working at a training facility in Kabul, will return home by the end of the year. Brigadier Robert Thomson, the most senior British officer on the base, said he was delighted with how the manoeuvre took place.
“This is not an evacuation,” he said. “I am standing here without body armour and we are going at walking pace. This is a deliberately measured transfer of power to the Afghans.” The towers around the 40km perimeter wall were handed over to Afghan security forces one at a time, shortly after dawn, in a carefully choreographed operation. Two full-scale dress rehearsals for “B-day” – pronounced bidet – were carried out in the last two weeks. In the final hours before Camp Bastion closed down, British officers were continuing to monitor militant activity.
