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UK joins list of countries to cease evacuation ops in Afghanistan: Check full list here
The evacuation operations in Kabul resumed after the deadly attack on Thursday as several countries have either announced their plan to end their operations as of the day or have already ceased.
The United Kingdom on Friday (IST) said that the country’s military forces have entered the final stages of the evacuation operation at Kabul international airport. The processing facilities have now closed inside the Baron hotel near the airport and the efforts would now be focussed on evacuating all the Britons and Afghans who have already been cleared to leave and are inside the airport, the UK’s ministry of defence said.
Earlier on Thursday, two blasts outside the Kabul airport killed several civilians and a dozen US troops, according to several news reports. Meanwhile, on Friday, the evacuation operations resumed after the bombings as several countries have either announced their plan to end their operations as of the day or have already ceased.
With the UK being the latest to announce its plan to end evacuations, here is a look at the list of countries that have either stopped or announced the last date for their operations at the Hamid Karzai International Airport -
- Spain has officially ended its operations in Afghanistan after its last two flights arrived in Dubai on Friday morning, Spanish news website El Pais reported citing the country’s defence ministry. The last 81 Spaniards including troops, police officers and embassy staff are in Dubai and are expected to arrive in Spain later in the day.
- Canada on Thursday said that the country has ended its operations in Kabul and only a small team remained on the ground. “We wish we could have stayed longer and rescued everyone who was so desperate to leave, that we could not is truly heartbreaking, but the circumstances on the ground rapidly deteriorated,” Canada’s acting chief of the defence staff General Wayne Eyre said in a briefing.
- French Prime Minister Jean Castex had previously said that France expected to complete evacuation operations by Friday evening. So far 100 French nationals and 2,000 Afghans have reached France after being airlifted from Kabul.
- The United States has planned to continue its presence till August 31, the accepted date for the complete pullout of US troops. Secretary of state Antony Blinken has said that about 1,500 US citizens remained in Afghanistan and the government is working towards getting them to the Kabul airport.
- The Netherlands halted evacuation flights from Kabul on Thursday and Prime Minister Mark Rutte said that the US has asked the Dutch to leave Kabul airport before August 31. Rutte also said that some Dutch people were left behind and that his government is in touch with other European nations regarding further course of action.
- Following the blast, Australia had said that it had pulled out its troops and citizens ahead of the attack, further saying that the country had prior intelligence about the attacks. “I am very pleased and relieved that our soldiers have departed from Kabul and we took the decision to lift the last of our people yesterday and they are safely in the United Arab Emirates,” AFP quoted defence minister Peter Dutton as saying.
- Qatar on Thursday said that its efforts to evacuate people from Afghanistan would continue in the coming days “in consultation with international partners.” So far, the country has evacuated over 40,000 people to its capital Doha.
(With agency inputs)
