Operation Pitting

Operation Pitting
Part of the 2021 Kabul airlift, the 2021 Taliban offensive and the War in Afghanistan
British, American, and Turkish soldiers assist an Afghan child outside the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul
Type	Non-combatant evacuation operation (NEO)
Location	Kabul, Afghanistan
Objective	Evacuation of British nationals, embassy staff and eligible Afghans
Date	13 August 2021 – 28 August 2021
Executed by	United Kingdom
Outcome	Over 15,000 eligible Afghans and British nationals successfully evacuated[1] 800–1,100 eligible Afghans and 100–150 British nationals left behind[2]

Operation Pitting was a British military operation to evacuate British nationals and eligible Afghans from Afghanistan following the 2021 Taliban offensive. The operation consisted of more than 1,000 military personnel, including soldiers from 16 Air Assault Brigade.^[3][4][5][6] It ran concurrently with the evacuation efforts of numerous other countries.

Over 15,000 people were airlifted to safety on more than 100 flights in the largest British evacuation since the Second World War and the largest airlift since the Berlin Blockade of 1948–9. Of those evacuated, 5,000 were British nationals and 8,000 were Afghans who were vulnerable to persecution by the Taliban due to their role in assisting British forces during Operation Herrick (2002–2014). Around 2,200 evacuees were children, with the youngest just one day old.^[1]

The evacuation implemented commitments made by the British government under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP), which began in April 2021. In total, 10,000 eligible Afghans were evacuated under ARAP through to the end of Operation Pitting.

The operation marked the end of the UK's 20-year military campaign in Afghanistan.^[7]