Afghanistan: London and Paris plead for a protected area in Kabul
American soldiers prepare the evacuation of Afghan civilians on August 28 at Kabul International Airport.
AP - Cpl.
Davis harris
Text by: RFI Follow
4 min
While evacuations from Afghanistan are supposed to end on August 31, France and the United Kingdom will ask for the establishment of a protected zone that would allow humanitarian operations to continue from Afghan territory.
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Evacuations are
drawing to a close in Afghanistan
. Several countries have already put an end to their airlifts. This is the case of France and the United Kingdom, which however hope to be able to exfiltrate a certain number of Afghan nationals threatened after the deadline of August 31. London and Paris will therefore defend this Monday at the UN Security Council the idea of a "protected zone" in order to continue humanitarian operations.
In the
Sunday Journal
, French President Emmanuel Macron speaks of "
several thousand Afghans
" that France wants to protect "
because of their commitments
". Magistrates, artists and intellectuals in particular. The Head of State specifies that future targeted evacuations will not be via the military airport in Kabul, but from the civilian airport in the Afghan capital or "
by neighboring countries
". Emmanuel Macron says he is counting on help from Qatar, which has good relations with the Taliban.
Because a UN resolution will not be enough.
For such a protected area to emerge, it also requires the agreement of the new masters of Afghanistan.
Discussions in this direction have been initiated with them.
However, this Franco-British initiative raises questions.
If the exfiltration of Afghan nationals is to be done in coordination with the Taliban, it will probably not be without risk for those at risk.
■
"We are waiting for a decision from the French government"
Among the people that the French state wishes to protect are auxiliaries, translators and employees of the French army during its presence in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014. But also Franco-Afghans who returned to see their families.
Ajmal was a cook for the French army from 2006 to 2013. On Thursday, he was ready to leave the country with his family, when
an attack claimed by the Islamic State group in Khorasan
struck Kabul airport.
He hasn't heard from him since.
Stranded in Kabul
Nicolas rocca
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A protected area in Kabul?
"There are a lot of questions about the feasibility of the thing"