Canada plans to resume military flights Afghanistan The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) said on Tuesday night that as the United States regained control of the Kabul airport, it would evacuate civilians.
“CAF flights will support ongoing operations and will evacuate as many Afghans who are at risk due to their close and lasting relationship with Canada,” a CAF spokesperson said in an emailed statement to Reuters.
On Monday, after Taliban militants poured into the capital without opposition, thousands of people were eager to flee Afghanistan and flooded into the Kabul airport. The U.S. military had to suspend all evacuation operations.
A Western security official at Kabul Airport told Reuters that there are no crowds on the runway and tarmac at the airport, and military flights to evacuate diplomats and civilians from Afghanistan started taking off on Tuesday morning.
The statement stated that the chartered plane carrying the fleeing Afghans had arrived in Canada from Monday night, and flights will be increased starting from Tuesday night.
“We are closely coordinating with our US and allied partners to plan to resume the evacuation flights from Afghanistan as soon as possible,” CAF said.
As of Tuesday, ten flights have returned to Canada, carrying staff from the Canadian Embassy as well as Afghan refugees, their families and Canadian citizens.
Alexander Cohen, a spokesman for the Minister of Immigration Marco Mendicino, said the latest arrival of the plane carrying 92 people had left Afghanistan a few days ago and arrived via a third country.
The Liberal Party arranged for reporters to go to Toronto Pearson Airport with Trudeau’s campaign. After disembarking the Transocean Airlines plane, they watched the handling of passengers in a tent on the tarmac.
So far, the government has kept the arrival of refugees very confidential to protect them and the safety of evacuation operations. Journalists are allowed to see them coming on Tuesday-under strict orders not to reveal their identities or take faces-this may reflect Trudeau’s enthusiasm for calling elections amid the escalating crisis in Afghanistan.
Earlier on Tuesday, Trudeau revealed during his campaign that all Canadian diplomats had left Afghanistan.
-Documents from global news and Canadian media
