DThat night, the German Bundeswehr landed at Kabul Airport for the first time. After an A400M transport plane carrying German paratroopers circled over the Afghan capital for several hours in vain and returned to Uzbekistan, the second transport plane finally landed at around 10:20 pm after the same long circle. However, during the Airbus stay lasting only about 30 minutes, the plane can only carry 7 people, rather than hope to add more wards. Then she flew back to Uzbekistan.
The ministry initially did not disclose the number of people rescued, only announcing that the A400M was “with those under protection” on the way to Tashkent. The CDU foreign politician John Wadevel confirmed the Bild’s corresponding report on the German wind on Tuesday. “There are only seven,” said the representative of the Union Parliament. The Ministry of National Defense said later that only a few people on the evacuation list were at the airport at the time. The passengers are said to be five Germans, one Dutch and one Afghan.
“We can only take away those who are with us”
Wadephul said they only have a 30-minute window. “And we can only take away those who are there now. This is also irresponsible, because it is not at all sure whether the plane can land now to bring more planes to the airport there.”
According to information provided by the German News Agency, the agency refers to the security community, and the Bundeswehr’s machine has run out of fuel after circling for five hours. Another transport plane had to interrupt its approach to Kabul in order to refuel in Tashkent (Uzbekistan). Two A400Ms took off from Winstorf in Lower Saxony and landed in Baku, Azerbaijan. They should first bring to Uzbekistan German citizens and local Afghan staff who have worked for the Bundeswehr or federal ministries or are still working today. From there the Tashkent hub, charter flights will continue to Germany. A third German A400M equipped with medical transport equipment and an Airbus A310 MRTT also flew from Wenstorf to Tashkent on Monday.
Americans are taking hundreds of people out of the country
Secretary of Defense Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (CDU) said in the ARD morning magazine on Tuesday: “With this machine, we mainly take Bundeswehr soldiers to Kabul for protection. They are now preparing to evacuate.” How should it proceed because there is currently no reliable authority on the airport. On Monday, hundreds of Afghans arrived at the airport and tried to climb onto the departing machine. At least five people were killed.
According to a report in “Der Spiegel” magazine, due to the initial lack of landing permits and Kabul’s curfew at 9 pm, it should not have been possible to bring more people to the airport in time. The Taliban should only allow foreigners to pass through checkpoints on the road to the airport, not Afghans. This will also affect all local Afghan staff who have worked for German agencies or development aid.
At the same time, more than 600 people landed on the US C-17 “Global Master” large transport aircraft. The crew decided to take off anyway, rather than forcing the passengers to disembark again. On Monday, the National Defense One website posted a picture of a crowded inside of a transport machine, with Afghans sitting on the floor-the crowd is no longer visible. According to the website, the panicked people had previously pulled themselves onto the plane through a half-open ramp. It quoted the security community as saying that after landing in Qatar, 640 civilians were counted. According to the manufacturer, Boeing, the freighter can actually accommodate up to 134 passengers. The US Department of Defense did not initially confirm the report.
On Monday, air traffic in Kabul was interrupted for several hours. It was not until the evening that US security forces managed to clear at least part of it for flight. On Tuesday morning, German Defense Minister Kramp-Karenbauer proposed two options. The opportunity for embassy personnel, former support staff and other nationals to flow out is very short. However, according to Kramp-Karenbauer, there is also hope that “we can establish a real air transport with the Americans in the next few days.” To this end, it is planned to send up to 600 soldiers. The strength of this force will be specified in the authorization of the Bundestag, which will be decided by the cabinet within a short period of time and subsequently approved by the parliament. According to the current plan, the National Defense Committee will hold a special meeting next week, after which the Bundestag will hold a meeting on flood prevention. Parliament can also decide to authorize it at this meeting on August 25.
