Factbox: Evacuations from Afghanistan by country
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[August 26, 2021]
(Reuters) - The United States and
allies are hurrying to evacuate as many people from Afghanistan as
possible before an Aug. 31 deadline amid growing security fears at Kabul
airport.
In total, around 88,000 people have been airlifted from Kabul airport
since evacuation efforts began, the Pentagon said on Wednesday.
Here are some more details of the evacuation effort by country:
UNITED STATES
The U.S. military will continue evacuating people from Kabul airport
until Aug. 31 if needed, but will prioritize the removal of U.S. troops
and military equipment on the last couple of days, the Pentagon said on
Wednesday.
A total of 4,400 American nationals have so far been evacuated from
Kabul, its spokesman said, but he did not know how many were still
there. Over the weekend, the number stood at about 2,500.
BRITAIN
Britain has declined to specify when its last evacuation flight would
leave, beyond saying that British troops would have to have left ahead
of the last U.S. flights out on Aug. 31. According to armed forces
minister James Heappey on Thursday, 12,279 people have been brought out
of Afghanistan by Britain. Heappey said about 400 people remained in
country.
GERMANY
Germany has said it will continue evacuation flights as long as
possible. By early on Thursday, the German military had evacuated 5,193
people on 34 flights.
The ministry said on Wednesday it estimated more than 200 German
citizens remained in Kabul. Some 540 Germans had already been evacuated.
Overall, Germany had said it had identified 10,000 people who needed to
be evacuated, including Afghan local staff, journalists and human rights
activists.
FRANCE
France expects to complete its evacuation flights from Kabul on Friday
evening, French Prime Minister Jean Castex said. The French foreign
ministry said that, as of Wednesday evening, more than 100 French
nationals and more than 2,000 Afghans had reached French soil after
being evacuated from Kabul airport.
QATAR
Qatar said on Thursday it has so far helped evacuate more than 40,000
people to Doha and "evacuation efforts will continue in the coming days
in consultation with international partners".
BELGIUM
Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said on Thursday Belgium ended its
evacuation operations after U.S. sources informed the government of an
imminent suicide bomb attack around Kabul airport.
A little over 1,400 people were evacuated by Belgium from Kabul, with
the last flight arriving at Islamabad on Wednesday night, he said.
TURKEY
Turkey has evacuated at least 1,400 people from Afghanistan, including
around 1,000 Turkish citizens, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said
earlier this week. Turkey also began to evacuate its troops in
Afghanistan, with the first flight due to arrive in Ankara on Thursday.
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An Afghan boy looks on as he leaves Incheon International Airport
after arriving in South Korea with other Afghan evacuees who
supported the South Korean government's activities in Afghanistan,
in Incheon, South Korea, August 26, 2021. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji
POLAND
Poland has evacuated about 900 people from Afghanistan, including
about 300 women and 300 children, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki
said on Thursday.
Poland's final evacuation flight was landing in Warsaw at around
0830 GMT on Thursday, he said.
INDIA
India has airlifted 565 people from Afghanistan, most of them Indian
embassy personnel and citizens living there but also dozens of
Afghans including Afghan Sikhs and Hindus, a government official
said on condition of anonymity. There was no decision yet on when
they planned to stop the flights, he said.
HUNGARY
Hungary has ended evacuations in Afghanistan after airlifting 540
people, including Hungarian citizens and Afghans and their families
who worked for Hungarian forces previously, the Hungarian Defence
Minister Tibor Benko said on Thursday.
DENMARK
Denmark made its last evacuation flight out of Kabul on Wednesday
with the remaining diplomatic staff and military personnel,
according to its defence ministry.
Denmark has airlifted around 1,000 people from Afghanistan since
Aug. 14, including diplomatic staff, their families, former
interpreters, Danish citizens as well as people from allied
countries, the ministry said.
AUSTRIA
Austria is not operating its own flights and is relying on Germany
and other countries to help with its evacuation. So far 89 people
with Austrian citizenship or residency have been airlifted out,
while another two to three dozen people are still in Afghanistan,
Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg told national broadcaster
ORF on Wednesday.
The number is changing constantly as new people are getting in touch
with the Austrian authorities "almost daily", Schallenberg said.
SWITZERLAND
Switzerland, which is relying on Germany and the United States to
help with its evacuation efforts via Tashkent, has got 292 people
out of Afghanistan, Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis said on Tuesday.
There were still 15 Swiss citizens in Afghanistan, but no more Swiss
evacuation flights were planned, he said.
(Compiled by Reuters staff,; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky and Alex
Richardson)
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