The Raid, the elite intervention unit of the national police, had "no other choice" than to "negotiate" with the Taliban to exfiltrate the French and Afghans who had taken refuge in the French embassy in Kabul. , explained this Wednesday his boss Jean-Baptiste Dulion.
"I am extremely relieved because it was a perilous operation in a very hostile and uncertain environment," he said in an interview with RTL.
Only "eleven guys" of the Raid, supported by the special forces of the French army, "accompanied nearly 350 people over five kilometers which seemed extremely long", he underlined, confessing to have "crossed the fingers So that the operation in the Afghan capital does not fail.
Police officers @PoliceNationale seconded to DCIS and #RAID ensured the safety of our compatriots and Afghan refugees at the embassy 🇫🇷 in #Kabul.
Organization and protection of the transfer last night to the military airport.
# Protect #Courage # Pride #Apagan pic.twitter.com/bNGoroCwu4
- National Police (@PoliceNationale) August 18, 2021
Previously, “there were two levels of negotiations.
At the highest level, via the French ambassador, and us on the ground, in constant search of an official who can help us and promote exfiltration, we could not do anything without them, ”the Taliban explained. commissioner.
The route between the embassy and the airport was "set up" with a member of the Taliban authority, "someone with whom we could discuss and who had real power," continued Dulion, who followed the operations from the Raid headquarters in Bièvres (Essonne).
"Armored vehicles everywhere"
"We have taken all measures to secure our convoy, our buses, to have the best possible transport to the airport, with armored vehicles from everywhere and external buses that we have secured to embark as many Afghan nationals as possible", said he added.
A large part of the people who had taken refuge at the French embassy in Kabul are now in a safe place, after the evacuation overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday of 216 people - including 184 Afghans - who arrived in Paris at the end of the day. .
On Tuesday, 41 French and foreign nationals had been exfiltrated in the same way.
Read also "It was quite surreal": the story of the evacuation in the middle of the night of the French embassy in Afghanistan
A third flight left Kabul on Wednesday for Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates) with 138 people on board, announced the Minister of the Armed Forces Florence Parly.