the numbers we are getting, ben, that the evacuation is sort of winding down. the last 2a hours about 1200 people were taken out of the airport, that is significantly down on previous days. they are now focusing on what they call force protection because there are fewer troops to remain at the airport and then they become vulnerable and they have got to make sure they are safe right up until one of those gets on the last plane now and things really winding down before tomorrow s deadline and in the meantime the pentagon investigating suggestions there have been civilian casualties, including children, as a result of that drone strike on a suspected suicide bomber headed for the airport in the centre of kabul yesterday. they went from a kind of, we are not sure about this, to a kind of, it is possible there have been civilian casualties. they are really trying obtain some details, but am very harrowing testimony from those on the ground directly
the aftermath of a rocket attack close to kabul airport. eyewitnesses say the missiles were launched from a car this morning. us officials have been warning another terror attack is highly likely, as the country s troops prepare to depart afghanistan. last night the pentagon launched a drone strike on a car packed with explosives close to the airport, saying it had thwarted a plot by islamic state. a family living close to the airport say they lost ten members in the drone strike including six children. the us says it s now investigating. translation: we live in this neighbourhood. | a rocket came and hit a house, we know that people died. i have nothing to say, we re distraught. despite security concerns, america says it s continuing evacuation flights up until tuesday s deadline. the uk s already wrapped up its operations, but there
seen day after day, night after night on their screens petrified afghans trying and hoping against hope to get through that crush at the airport to get through to the processing by british or other diplomats and to get onto that tarmac and take a flight out of the country a flight out of the country they no longer see as their own. it is a nightmare for so many afghans, so many dreams crushed, but we have to bear in mind that tens of millions of afghans will remain and hoping against hope that the world will not forget that the world will keep its promises not to forget about afghanistan. joining me now is brad blitz, a professor of international politics and policy at university college london. he says ucl s team of 350 uk funded researchers are stranded in afghanistan, despite being eligible for an arap visa. although they are eligible for any of to come out and come to britain.
are still many eligible for resettlement in the uk who are left behind. i talked to a man who couldn t get on his flight to britain because of the crowds at the airport. now he s in fear of the taliban, and is moving to a different safe house almost every day. nowadays, if there is a knock on the door, your heart stops beating because you re worried it s the taliban. what would your message be to the uk government right now? we are fighting to stay alive. it s not a matter of hours, not a matter of days it s a matter of seconds. the uk government says the end of the mission makes evacuations much harder, but says it s working with allies to find a way to get people out through other means. we will not end our repatriation and evacuation effortjust because kabul airport has fallen,
although we have to understand that losing that as an exit route severely limits and has severely limited our ability to evacuate people. those left behind don t have much hope to hold onto. many are in fear, others displaced, struggling to find food. tomorrow marks the end of america s longest war. its legacy is uncertain as the future of afghanistan. rajini vaidyanathan, bbc news. as we heard in rajini s report, the us launched a drone strike on suspected militants planning a suicide bombing near the airport. earlier, kabul resident ramin yousufi told the bbc his cousin returned from work and went outside with his children when the drone strike happened killing ten of his relatives, including the cousin, and six of the children. a warning that some of what you hear