The top secret Afghan mission...launched from an embassy backroom

TRANSPORTER: C-17s were used to bring thousands of Afghans into RAF Brize Norton in regular flights from Islamabad, Pakistan

- By Marco Giannangeli DIPLOMATIC EDITOR

A TOP-SECRET mission to bring thousands of Afghans to the UK was mounted from a backroom at the British Embassy in Pakistan, the Sunday Express can reveal.

Every month for almost two years, an RAF C-17 transport aircraft landed in Islamabad to fly out up to 100 people after their credentials had been vetted and approved.

Operating at night, the C-17s — whose movements could be seen on flight-tracking apps — returned with Afghans and their families, who were then put in former military housing after landing at RAF Brize Norton.

Then-Defence Secretary Ben Wallace commissioned the scheme, codenamed Operation Lazurite, to help those who had served with British forces between 2006 and the end of operations in 2021.