France begins Afghanistan evacuations
French citizens and Afghan nationals are flying out of Afghanistan in a French military transport plane, en route to a base in the United Arab Emirates. French special forces have been securing the operation while civilians board the plane.
France said it will evacuate its first nationals and Afghan colleagues from the fallen Afghan capital Kabul to a base in the United Arab Emirates, defense minister Florence Parly said, adding there were several dozen French citizens to be evacuated.
"We have organized at the base we have in the United Arab Emirates the capabilities to receive the first evacuees," Parly said adding that these are for French nationals who remain in Kabul but also "people under our protection and who we are going to evacuate".
The French base in the UAE will serve as a military hub to ensure the back and forth between Abu Dhabi and Kabul and then repatriation in France. Diplomatic personnel are included among the dozens of people set to be evacuated.
The priority is to evacuate (Afghan) personnel who rendered eminent service to our country by helping daily, and also doing the maximum to provide protection to figures who defended the rights, human rights, journalists, artists, all those who stood for these values that we continue to defend around the world.
The military operation involves two French air force transport planes, a C-130 and A400M, which left France late Sunday and early Monday for the Emirates.
