THIS is the heartwarming moment RAF personnel handed out cuddly toys to children who landed in the UK after being evacuated from Afghanistan.
Military staff also gave food, drinks and blankets as they welcomed families arriving at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire on Thursday.
In one of the touching snaps, a little girl is handed a pink and white unicorn cuddly toy.
In another picture, a young boy holds up a blue dinosaur as a hero RAF worker kneels down next to him with a cardboard box filled with toys.
One Twitter user said: “The warm welcome and friendly faces after such a traumatic ordeal will stick with these children forever.
“Thank you to our amazing service personnel.”
Home Secretary Priti Patel was there to meet Afghan families fleeing the Taliban.
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The militants regained control of Afghanistan ahead of the US-led withdrawal of western troops from the country.
More than 12,000 people have now been airlifted to the UK since the evacuation mission Operation Pitting began on August 13.
This includes embassy staff, British nationals, those eligible under the Afghan relocation and assistance policy programme, and some evacuees from allied countries.
The Ministry of Defence released pictures on Thursday of just some of the refugees safely evacuated from Afghanistan via the UAE.
KIDS HAVE ‘NO SHOES’
Squadron Leader Dowds said: “We received quite a lot of donations.
“A lot of these families are coming here with absolutely nothing, some of the children have no shoes.
“So we provide what we can to make their trip through Brize Norton more comfortable.”
The evacuees’ disembarkation is being managed by the Air Mobility Wing, other RAF units, Border Force, civilian and military police, the Red Cross and Oxfordshire county council.
After being processed, they were given food, and health checks.
Operation Pitting has been a RAF whole-force effort.
Troops, including a deployed RAF Police element, are supporting the mammoth effort alongside the British Army, Royal Navy, local authorities and aid organisations in Afghanistan and the UK.
The full fleet of RAF transport aircraft from RAF Brize Norton has been flying around the clock to support the evacuation.
Thursday’s arrival comes as 13 US troops and at least 90 Afghans were killed in ISIS suicide bomb attacks at Kabul Airport today.
Two explosions rocked the airport in Afghanistan just hours before the evacuation deadline.
Thousands of people have gathered at the airport over the past 12 days hoping to be evacuated after the Taliban seized power.
ISIS claimed responsibility for the attacks, sharing a picture online of one of the suicide bombers.
A US official confirmed the first blast was caused by a suicide bomb, with initial reports suggesting a second explosion was a car bomb.
