British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has told lawmakers that all British troops are returning to the UK from the South Asian country, adding that the majority of personnel has already been withdrawn.

“All British troops assigned to NATO’s mission in Afghanistan are now returning home. For obvious reasons I will not disclose the timetable of our departure, but I can tell the House [of Commons] that most of our personnel have already left”, Johnson told the UK parliament.

The prime minister said the UK did not underestimate the challenge of the NATO mission in Afghanistan and pledged to continue supporting Kabul after the troop withdrawal.

“The international military presence in Afghanistan was never intended to be permanent. We and our NATO allies were always going to withdraw our forces. The only question was when, and there could never be a perfect moment”, the prime minister stressed.

The remarks were followed by Britain’s Chief of the Defense Staff Nick Carter warning it was “plausible” that the withdrawal of international forces from Afghanistan may result in a significant deterioration of the situation there.

Source: Sputnik