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LONDON: A UK Parliament inquiry has heard fresh evidence of the government鈥檚 mishandling of the Afghanistan withdrawal, The Observer has reported.

The new information, which was obtained from various departments and agencies, has reinforced critical testimony from a UK Foreign Office source, whose allegations that incompetence 鈥渓eft people to die at the hands of the Taliban鈥� have dealt a serious blow to the government.

Thousands of emails concerning Afghans in serious danger were left unread amid the Taliban takeover, The Observer reported in August. Critical messages from senior MPs and government ministers were also effectively ignored.

Tom Tugendhat, chair of the inquiry, told the newspaper that senior figures had come forward to detail their accounts of the events.

He recounted information gathered last week from three Foreign Office officials who worked under permanent secretary Sir Philip Barton, who previously admitted to staying on holiday for 11 days after Afghanistan had fallen to the Taliban, which Tugendhat labeled as 鈥渃ompletely extraordinary.鈥�

The MP said he is now 鈥渕ore convinced鈥� of the testimony of Raphael Marshall, the junior official whose description of events led to criticism of the government鈥檚 handling of the crisis.

鈥淭here鈥檚 nothing I鈥檝e heard that leads me to believe he is mistaken. He and many like him deserve more than an apology,鈥� said Tugendhat.

鈥淭hey have demonstrated quite clearly the integrity and the ethical standards we should expect from senior government employees, but are finding those standards in the junior ranks, not the senior ones.鈥�

The inquiry is now examining the new evidence, he added. 鈥淪ince the hearing on Tuesday, I鈥檝e been approached by individuals from other government departments and, indeed, other agencies offering their own perspectives on the events in the run-up to August and the aftermath,鈥� he said.

鈥淲e鈥檙e in discussion as to how their evidence may be presented. There is a very wide feeling that this goes to the heart of something that is simply not acceptable, and that Britain deserves better.鈥�

In response to the development in the inquiry, a UK government spokesperson said in a statement: 鈥淕overnment staff worked tirelessly to evacuate more than 15,000 people from Afghanistan within a fortnight.

鈥淭his was the biggest mission of its kind in generations and the second largest evacuation carried out by any country. We are still working to help others leave.

鈥淭he scale of the evacuation and the challenging circumstances meant decisions on prioritization had to be made quickly to ensure we could help as many people as possible.

鈥淩egrettably we were not able to evacuate all those we wanted to, but our commitment to them is enduring.

鈥淪ince the end of the operation we鈥檝e helped more than 3,000 individuals leave Afghanistan.鈥�

Tugendhat said the committee would also discuss the military side of the withdrawal with UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace.

鈥淲e鈥檙e very keen to speak to the defense secretary, who has agreed to come,鈥� he added. 鈥淲e want to hear the military perspective on this. We鈥檙e very keen to speak to others who may have been involved in different areas. And we need to sit down and go through a lot of evidence.鈥�

Tugendhat said he wants to build a final report on the events before blaming individuals or departments for specific failures.

But he labeled the scenario a 鈥渨hole government failure鈥� that includes the Foreign Office, Home Office and Ministry of Defense. Allies of Britain in Afghanistan had been abandoned as a result of the events, he warned.

鈥淭here are many people on the ground in Afghanistan today who are guilty of nothing more than hoping and wishing for a better future,鈥� he added.

鈥淵et today, the Taliban victory means that what we鈥檙e likely to see is a very serious degradation in the life chances of individuals.

鈥淚n many ways we鈥檙e already seeing it. We鈥檙e seeing girls denied education and we鈥檙e seeing women excluded from work. These are very serious attacks on civil liberties.鈥�

Questions also remain over the high-profile evacuation of almost 200 dogs and cats from the war-torn country, Tugendhat said.

Some figures have alleged that the animals were chosen for evacuation in place of people, taking up critical space on aircraft flying out of Kabul.

The animal rescue efforts were led by Pen Farthing, a former Royal Marine who heads the Nowzad Dogs charity.

Marshall, the whistleblower who described the 鈥渃haotic鈥� events, alleged that critical resources in Kabul were redirected to the charity at the expense of Afghans, many of whom had worked for years with British forces in the country.

Tugendhat said: 鈥淭he Foreign Office officials made it clear that there was absolutely no diversion of resources. They also made it clear that the military opened the gates and took time to get those animals in. How those two statements are compatible, I don鈥檛 understand.鈥�