France ended its evacuations from Afghanistan on Friday evening

Published on : 08/28/2021 – 07:18

In the end, there was no extension for France. Paris put an end to its airlift on Friday evening to evacuate Afghans threatened by the Taliban from Kabul to Paris, announced the Minister of the Armed Forces and the head of French diplomacy. “Operation Apagan, launched on August 15 at the request of the President of the Republic, ended this evening,” tweeted Florence Parly.

Nearly 3,000 people, including a hundred French nationals and more than 2,600 Afghans threatened for having worked for France or for their commitment to human rights, were evacuated, said the Army staff.

Airlift interrupted

This airlift had to be interrupted “the security conditions no longer being met at the airport” in Kabul due to the “rapid disengagement of the American forces” which will have left Afghanistan on August 31, added Florence Parly and Jean -Yves Le Drian in a joint press release.

“The team from the French embassy in Kabul joined Abu Dhabi before returning to France”, they added, thanking “diplomats, soldiers, police officers and all the state services” who attended. mobilized “relentlessly” to allow these evacuations.

French Ambassador to Afghanistan David Martinon will continue to operate from Paris, President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday.

“The last French soldiers left Kabul this evening”, also tweeted the staff, which had dispatched a hundred soldiers there.

In total, the French army provided 26 rotations between Kabul and the air base 104 in Abu Dhabi, the hub of the system, and 16 flights between Abu Dhabi and Paris.

France, which calls for the establishment of humanitarian operations to allow the thousands of Afghans who have not managed to be evacuated to leave by other means, has announced that it will continue discussions in this direction. with the Taliban.

“Our efforts continue (…) To this end, we will continue our efforts with the Taliban officials to ensure that they will not put any obstacle after August 31 to the departure of those who wish,” noted the two ministers.

Meeting in Doha

A French delegation met with representatives of the Taliban in Doha on Thursday for the first time since they took power in Afghanistan on August 15.

These discussions focused on the situation at Kabul airport and evacuation operations, according to the two parties.

The Taliban assure that anyone in possession of legal documents will be able to travel abroad and that the civilian airport will be reopened to allow the resumption of international flights.

If it has initiated this dialogue, France nevertheless excludes “political discussions” and recognition of the Taliban as long as a certain number of conditions are not met.

It demands in particular the guarantee for all those who wish to be able to leave their country, the commitment not to let Afghanistan again become a sanctuary for Islamist terrorism and the establishment of a government extended to other political components.

“Diplomatic life and international relations are sometimes choosing between bad options to defend interests and values ​​as best or as little as possible,” however, Secretary of State for European Affairs Clément Beaune noted on Friday.

With AFP