The UK govt said late Saturday that about 1,000 troops who ran an airlift of British nationals and Afghan civilians had departed from Kabul airport, hours after the final evacuation flight for civilians.
When the traditional cry of “Is there a doctor on the flight?” went unanswered on Saturday, Turkish Airlines staff helped 26-year-old Afghan Soman Noori give birth at 30,000 feet, Demiroren News Agency said.
Britain’s defense ministry said the final flight for Afghan citizens had left Kabul and further flights over the weekend will bring home British troops and diplomats, though they may also carry a few remaining U.K. or Afghan civilians.
There is growing concern among the western allies that Islamist terrorists may have successfully infiltrated the thousands of Afghans and other foreigners, and some of them may have actually boarded planes for Europe and the US.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Friday she is not yet sure how many people were left behind or whether they were New Zealand citizens, residents, or visa holders.
The US embassy had requested the Pakistan government to help in the evacuation efforts ahead of the August 31 deadline to completely withdraw from Afghanistan to cap its longest foreign war, spanning over 20 years after the September 11, 2001 terror attacks.
Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said the last of the German military aircraft and troops arrived in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on Thursday evening.
"There are no fights in Kabul fortunately, but there were fights in other regions, in other cities, and as we work in the whole country we were very concerned by the issues of fights," ICRC spokesperson said.
Ardern said that no NZDF personnel were in Kabul at the time of explosions which occurred at the airport on Thursday as they had all safely departed on the final flight, reports Xinhua news agency.
Untold thousands of at-risk Afghans are struggling to get into the airport even as many thousands of other Afghans already had been flown to safety in nearly two weeks of round-the-clock flights.
Canada and European allies pressed for more time but lost the argument, and as a practical matter, they may be forced to end their evacuations a couple of days before the last American troops leave. Several countries haven’t said yet when they plan to end their operations, perhaps hoping to avoid yet another fatal crash at an airport that’s one of the last ways out of the country.
The development comes after US President Joe Biden declared that he is sticking to his August 31 deadline for completing a risky airlift of Americans, endangered Afghans and others seeking to escape Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.
The name of the operation was known when External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar mentioned it in a tweet on Tuesday while referring to the arrival of a fresh batch of 78 evacuees in Delhi.
The evacuees were received at the Indira Gandhi International Airport by Union ministers Hardeep Singh Puri and V Muraleedharan.
Biden asserted, without a full explanation, that U.S. forces have managed to improve access to the airport for Americans and others seeking to get on flights. He suggested that the perimeter had been extended, widening a “safe zone.”
The Air India Flight successfully evacuated 84 Indians and two Nepalese from Afghanistan.
Air India, Vistara, and IndiGo carrying Indian nationals from Kabul landed at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport Terminal 3 on Sunday Morning.
The United States and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) forces have been in control of operations at the Hamid Karzai International Airport since August 15, since Afghanistan fell to the Taliban. The forces granted permission to India to operate two Indian aircrafts every day to Kabul on Saturday.
NATO headquarters has blamed a failure of Afghan leadership for the swift collapse of the country's Western-backed armed forces.
Biden is set to meet with his national security team about the evacuations, and to speak from the White House Friday afternoon. In addition to criticism from some lawmakers who say the U.S. failed to adequately plan for the Taliban's swift takeover, U.S. diplomats have voiced dissent.
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