UK Wraps Up Afghanistan Evacuation Operations – Here Is List Of Countries To Cease Efforts

Kabul: As the political turmoil in Afghanistan worsens, the United Kingdom on Friday clarified that it will not evacuate anyone except those who are already inside the airport.

With the military forces in their final stages of the evacuation operation at Kabul international airport, Defence minister Ben Wallace told Reuters that the processing facilities have now closed inside the Baron hotel near the airport. Now, Britons and Afghans who have already been cleared to leave and are inside the airport will be evacuated, the UK’s ministry of defence clarified.

Evacuation operations resumed after the two blasts outside the Kabul airport on Thursday killed several civilians and a dozen US troops. UK joins the list of several countries announcing their exit plan. Here is a list of countries that stepped back and announced the last date of their operations at the Hamid Karzai International Airport.

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Spain:

Spain has also withdrawn its operations in Afghanistan after its last two flights arrived in Dubai on Friday, according to Spanish news website El Pais report which quoted the country’s Defence ministry. As per the report, the remaining 81 Spaniards including troops, police officers and embassy staff have reached Dubai and travel to Spain.

Canada:

Canada also terminated its operations in Kabul with only a small team remaining 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, as per the Hindustan Times report.

France:

French Prime Minister Jean Castex had briefed that evacuations will be completed by Friday evening. Till now almost 100 French nationals including 2,000 Afghans reached France after being airlifted from Kabul.

US:

The United States was to withdraw its presence before August 31, the accepted date for the complete pullout of US troops. Secretary of state Antony Blinken has informed around 1,500 US citizens were in Afghanistan and the government is aiming to get them back.

The Netherlands:

The European nation also stopped evacuation efforts 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 courses of action.

Australia:

Australia had indicated pulling out its troops and citizens ahead of the attack 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:

The gulf nation said efforts to evacuate people from Afghanistan would continue in the coming days “in consultation with international partners.” The country has managed to evacuate over 40,000 people to its capital Doha.