Thirteen Britons among hundreds allowed to leave Kabul on first international flight

Thirteen Britons were among hundreds of people allowed to leave Afghanistan in the first international civilian flight since Kabul fell to the Taliban, the Foreign Office has said.

The Qatar Airways flight landed in Doha after taking off from Kabul airport earlier on Monday with 200 onboard - the first to leave since Western military left Afghanistan.

In addition to the British citizens, Americans and other nationalities including Germans, Hungarians and Canadians were believed to be onboard the flight.

Image: People board the Qatar Airways flight to Doha in Kabul. Pic: AP

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said: "We are grateful to our Qatari friends for facilitating a flight carrying 13 British nationals from Kabul to safety in Doha today.

"We expect the Taliban to keep to their commitment to allow safe passage for those who want to leave."

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The Taliban has said it will let foreigners and Afghans with valid travel documents leave and the flight shows at least some travel is being permitted.

Passengers presented their documents for checking under the watchful eyes of Taliban fighters as sniffer dogs inspected their luggage.

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Kabul airport was extensively damaged after international forces withdrew in a chaotic evacuation in August.

Image: Taliban fighters walk past the flight at the airport in Kabul. Pic: AP

Technical experts from Qatar and Turkey were brought in to restore operations at the airport as some staff returned to work.

It comes amid discussions on how to help eligible Afghans flee Taliban rule.

Interior ministers from the G7 group of leading democracies met in London, where Home Secretary Priti Patel urged her counterparts to follow the UK's lead in establishing safe and legal resettlement routes.

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A Home Office spokesman said: "She told ministers that Afghan citizens are depending on us, and set out how the UK was standing by those who needed our help the most in their hour of need and encouraged all G7 nations to do the same."

So far the UK has resettled thousands of Afghans through the established Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) and will welcome an additional 20,000 to Britain through a new scheme.

The spokesman said Ms Patel "made clear that the UK would not abandon people who are now living in terror of what might come next and that the British government would warmly welcome and support them in rebuilding their lives here in the UK".

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