Russia to evacuate 500 from Kabul; Hungary winding down Afghan airlifts

RFE/RL
Wed, 25 Aug 2021 06:46 UTC

© Russian Defense Ministry/AP

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu

Russia will use four military transport aircraft to evacuate more than 500 citizens from Afghanistan, Russian news agencies reported on August 25, as the Taliban said an August 31 deadline for all foreign evacuations to be completed will not be extended.

Besides Russians, the four aircraft will also airlift citizens of other member states of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), as well as Ukraine, the Russian Defense Ministry was quoted as saying in a statement:

"On August 25, by order from Russian President Vladimir Putin, Russian Defense Minister Army General Sergei Shoigu organized the evacuation by military transport aircraft of over 500 citizens of the Russian Federation, CSTO member states (Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan), and Ukraine from the territory of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan."

The aircraft are equipped with medical personnel and supplies to provide the necessary medical assistance in flight, the statement said.

In Budapest, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said the Hungarian evacuation efforts from Afghanistan are nearing an end after the Central European country airlifted just over 500 people from Kabul. "The exact timing will be announced by the commander of the army, which may happen as soon as today,"

Szijjarto told a news conference on August 25, adding that most evacuees were Afghan nationals who had supported a Hungarian charity or Hungarian troops there.

Earlier, Hungary's Interior Ministry said a plane carrying 240 evacuated Afghan nationals, including 126 children, landed in Budapest on August 25.

Poland, however, said on August 25 that it had halted its airlift evacuations from Kabul's international airport over safety concerns. Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Przydacz said that a group taken from Kabul and now in Uzbekistan was the last to be evacuated by Poland. He said his nation made its decision after consulting with U.S. and British officials:

"After a long analysis of reports on the security situation, we cannot risk the lives of our diplomats and of our soldiers any longer."

Poland has used more than a dozen planes to bring hundreds of evacuees to Warsaw. Some later traveled on to other countries.

Comment: It seems every leader has a take on what should happen in Kabul...regardless of the deadline edict by the Taliban.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada is prepared to keep its military personnel in Afghanistan after an Aug. 31 American deadline. Trudeau made the announcement after meeting today in a virtual summit with fellow G7 leaders.

Going into the meeting, Trudeau played his cards close to his chest on whether he wanted the G7 to push for an extension of the American military commitment to Afghanistan.

President Joe Biden had been expected to face calls from some fellow leaders in the special virtual G7 meeting to extend the U.S. military commitment to the country beyond his Aug. 31 deadline.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who hosted the summit, and France's Emmanuel Macron were among those calling for an extension in order to more fully evacuate all foreign nationals and vulnerable Afghans who helped the Americans and the NATO allies before the country's recent fall to the Taliban.

Trudeau added:

"We also have to talk about how, as an international community we're holding the Taliban to account, we're ensuring that we're protecting people who won't be able to escape the Taliban in the coming week or weeks."

Germany seems to be in the same pickle as other countries for evacuation of its citizens:

Germany will not be able to evacuate all of its citizens and Afghans who worked with the German troops by August 31, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas has admitted, adding that 100 Germans still haven't got to Kabul airport. Maas told Germany's Bild TV broadcaster, adding that "honesty" demands he admit this fact:

"We will not be able to get everyone out of Afghanistan in the remaining days of this military evacuation operation."

The foreign minister said that German officials are "in contact" with 100 "citizens and their families" on the ground and are aware of their location. The officials were still trying to bring them to the Kabul airport in a "reasonably safe" manner and get them onboard one of the Bundeswehr flights. He also admitted that Berlin had to negotiate with the Taliban to evacuate some people while describing it as "worse than just an abnormal state of affairs." "To do this, one has to go ways one does not want to go," Maas said, arguing that Germany had no other choice.

So far, 351 German citizens and their families have been flown out of Afghanistan, according to the German media.

And the US update is 'no change':

It would seem the USA, and in particular the Biden administration, is in the international crapper.