Afghanistan: end of the French airlift on Thursday if the United States withdraws on August 31

Satellite image of Kabul airport (Image illustration).

© AFP

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The airlift set up by France to exfiltrate Afghans wanting to escape the Taliban from Kabul will end on Thursday if the United States withdraws from Afghanistan as planned on August 31, a senior French diplomat said on Tuesday (August 24).

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If the United States follows its target of total withdrawal on August 31, " 

for us, in terms of back-planning, that means our operation ends Thursday night."

So we have three days left

 ”, explained the director of the cabinet of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nicolas Roche, to Prime Minister Jean Castex, in the presence of journalists.

►Also read

: Evacuations from Afghanistan: what means of pressure do the West have on the Taliban?

Since the

fall of Kabul

, now in the hands of the Taliban, on August 15, France has established an airlift to exfiltrate threatened French and Afghans.

Almost 2,000 people have already been taken out of the country by these means.

Exfiltrations requested by Afghans from France

The Taliban have firmly opposed any postponement of the departure of US forces in Afghanistan, while a virtual G7 summit on Tuesday is due to take stock of the evacuations and consider sanctions.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has identified another 62 French people who remain to be evacuated, and very many Afghans have requested an exfiltration that the authorities are examining.

During the visit to the Crisis and Support Center (CDCS) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Jean Castex underlined the need "

to distinguish between emergencies, which requires rapid responses, from the rest

".

The CDCS has thus received nearly 120,000 calls since the start of the bridge, " 

90% to 95% of calls are from Afghan refugees in France who are worried about their families,

 " according to the ministry.

( 

With

AFP)

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  • Afghanistan

  • France

  • United States

  • Taliban