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A Dutch evacuation effort from Afghanistan on Tuesday night was unsuccessful due to chaos outside the Hamid Karzai International Airport as the route to the country’s main exit point turned increasingly treacherous three days after a Taliban takeover, with foreign and Afghan nationals still desperately trying to leave the country.
A military plane operated by the Dutch together with other northern European countries left Kabul Tuesday night without any people destined for the Netherlands on board, said Dutch Foreign Minister Sigrid Kaag.
“It’s awful. Many were there at the gates of the airport with their families,” Kaag told Dutch news agency ANP late Tuesday. “I hope the situation will improve on Wednesday. We are trying to get a grip on the situation and to make sure that we get everyone we want to evacuate out.”
The desperate scenes came amid stepped up efforts to ferry foreign and Afghan nationals trying to flee on military flights from the Kabul airport since commercial flights have not resumed since Sunday’s Taliban takeover.
The Taliban on Tuesday promised “safe passage” for civilians travelling to the Kabul airport amid increasing concerns over the security of Afghan nationals attempting to reach the city’s main exit point.
The White House said around 3,200 people had been evacuated by the US military so far, including US citizens, permanent residents and their families on 13 flights.
But White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan on Tuesday acknowledged reports that some civilians were encountering resistance – “being turned away or pushed back or even beaten” – as they tried to reach the Hamid Karzai International Airport.
Sullivan however maintained that “very large numbers” were reaching the airport and the problem of the others was being taken up with the Taliban following Monday’s chaotic scenes of Afghans desperately trying to flee the Taliban takeover.
The US wants to complete evacuations before its August 31 withdrawal deadline, and thousands of US soldiers were at the airport as the Pentagon planned to ramp up flights of its huge C-17 transport jets to as many as two dozen a day.
“Now that we have established the flow, we expect those numbers to escalate,” said a White House official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
France conducted additional evacuations late Tuesday and early Wednesday from Kabul to Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian on Wednesday said 25 French nationals and 184 Afghans were evacuated from Afghanistan overnight and landed in Abu Dhabi.
Reporting from Dubai, FRANCE 24’s Catherine Norris-Trent said French and other nationals sheltering in the French embassy in Kabul were bussed across the city to the airport.
“Countries are really stepping up the evacuations now that security has been re-established around the international airport,” said Norris-Trent. “US military commanders say they are in contact with Taliban commanders around the airport and they said they have managed to get order back there after Monday’s chaotic scenes at the airport.”
At least five people died at the Kabul airport on Monday as US security officials at the airport attempted to manage the crowds, with some of the clinging on to military planes trying to take off.
Britain has managed to remove around 1,000 people a day from Afghanistan, British Interior Minister Priti Patel said on Wednesday.
“We have been getting out approximately 1,000 people, so far, a day,” Patel told BBC TV. “We’re still bringing out British nationals… and those Afghan nationals who are part of our locally employed scheme.”
US looking to extend presence in Afghanistan
State Department spokesman Ned Price said Tuesday that the United States could decide to keep its core diplomatic presence, now operating out of the airport after the US embassy was shuttered, after August 31.
He also called on the Taliban to follow through on promises to respect the rights of citizens including women.
Also being airlifted are Afghans granted US refugee visas, mostly for having worked as translators for American and NATO forces, other foreign nationals, and other unspecified “at risk” Afghans.
‘Difficult and complicated’ exercise
India, Germany and Australia have also organised evacuations over the past few days.
India on Tuesday night evacuated around 150 people, including the Indian ambassador and all other diplomats from Afghanistan, according to the foreign ministry.
They were flown out in a special military flight to the Hindon airbase near capital New Delhi.
India’s foreign minister, S. Jaishankar, called the evacuation process a “difficult and complicated” exercise.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP and AP)
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