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Afghanistan: end of the airlift Thursday for France if the United States withdraws well on August 31

2021-08-24T15:36:08.888Z


Without further delay, "there are three days left" to exfiltrate people fleeing the Taliban, the director of this organization said on Tuesday.


Operation Apagan, the airlift set up by France to exfiltrate its nationals and Afghans threatened by the future regime from Kabul, will end on Thursday if the United States withdraws from Afghanistan as planned on August 31.

This is what Jean Castex's chief of staff said on Tuesday during a visit to the crisis and support center (CDCS) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

If the United States cannot postpone the date of August 31 to leave Afghanistan, “for us, in terms of back-planning, that means that our operation ends Thursday evening. So we have three days left, ”Nicolas Roche explained to Prime Minister Jean Castex, in the presence of journalists. This Tuesday, during the virtual meeting of the G7, Paris hopes to obtain a delay from the United States. Evacuations accelerated Monday at Kabul airport but there are still thousands of candidates for departure.

Nearly 2,000 people have already left Kabul under the aegis of France. A new flight landed at Roissy this Tuesday at dawn, with 205 people evacuated, including 204 Afghans, according to the army staff. Another flight is due to arrive during the day, after taking off from Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, carrying evacuees from Kabul on the night of Monday to Tuesday, according to the Ministry of the Armed Forces. Monday morning, a group of 260 people was able to reach the French zone in Kabul airport, according to the tweet of the French ambassador to Afghanistan David Martinon. Several EU countries are involved in the evacuation of Union employees.

This morning, the French special forces, in liaison with the American army, were able to bring into the airport 260 employees of the European Union Delegation in Kabul.

They are welcomed in the waiting area of ​​the French Embassy before boarding.

Well done to the EU.

pic.twitter.com/GcIKpjCLTu

- David Martinon (@david_martinon) August 23, 2021

Paris has identified 62 French people who remain to be evacuated from Afghanistan, and hundreds of requests are being investigated.

This Tuesday morning, Jean Castex underlined the need "to distinguish between emergencies, which requires rapid responses, from the rest".

The CDCS has received nearly 120,000 calls in the past week, "90% to 95% of calls are from Afghan refugees in France who are worried about their families," according to the ministry.

A hearing is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon at the Council of State following several summary proceedings filed by Cimade, the National Council of Bars, Gisti and other associations.

They ask for visas for relatives, still in Afghanistan, of Afghan refugees already on French soil.

While nearly 60,000 foreigners and Afghans have already fled the country by plane since the Taliban took power nine days ago, the latter firmly reminded on Tuesday that they would not allow the extension of the ongoing air evacuations to Kabul beyond August 31.

They ask Westerners, who find this deadline too short, to take only foreigners and not the most qualified Afghans.

"This country needs its expertise" and these qualified people "should not be taken to other countries," said one of their spokespersons, Zabihullah Mujahid.

Source: leparis

All news articles on 2021-08-24

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