Sunday 15th August 2021
Personnel waiting at the airport
German embassy in Kabul evacuated
The NATO troops have already left Afghanistan, the diplomatic staff are still there. And it must now be saved from the radical Islamic Taliban, who are recapturing the country in no time at all. The German nationals are waiting at the airport and waiting for the air force.
In view of the rapid advance of the radical Islamic Taliban in Afghanistan, the federal government is hastily preparing the rescue of all Germans and local employees who have remained in the Central Asian country. According to Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, the German embassy in Kabul has already been evacuated. “I decided this morning to move the personnel to the military part of the airport,” he writes on Twitter. “The employees have now arrived there and are making them work.”
The “Spiegel” had first reported on the measure. He also reports that they were accompanied by the federal police officers who are deployed to protect the German state representation. It is therefore not known whether the approximately 80 other German citizens who are in Kabul were also brought to safety there.
It is unclear how long the embassy staff will have to wait at the airport. The “Bild” newspaper reported without further details from sources that a large transporter of the type A400M of the German armed forces and another Airbus A310 would take off to Afghanistan in the course of the day to fly out those affected. So far, Monday had been assumed.
First destination: Tashkent
Around 100 Germans are said to be still in Kabul, including 30 embassy employees and federal police officers. In addition, there are members of aid organizations and several thousand Afghan local staff who had worked primarily for the German armed forces during the 20-year deployment and who fear persecution by the Taliban. According to the information, they will first be flown out to Tashkent in Uzbekistan by the air force. Around 200 paratroopers are supposed to secure the mission.
The heads of the federal government had already discussed the procedure with Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday. According to government circles, the crisis team meets continuously. Further talks between Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer and Foreign Minister Maas are planned for the afternoon.
However, the German government was apparently surprised by the speed of the Taliban’s advance on Kabul. On Thursday, Maas had announced that it would send charter planes to Kabul by the end of August to bring local workers out of the country. However, the advance of the militia to the gates of Kabul forced the federal government to act in greater haste.
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