Canada will evacuate and resettle thousands of Afghan refugees.
Before the announcement, the Canadian government repeatedly called for help in evacuation of Afghan nationals who had assisted Canada.
Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino told reporters at a press conference on Friday afternoon that approximately 20,000 Afghans will be rescued, many of whom will be evacuated with their children and families.
The refugees include journalists, human rights activists and civil servants-many of whom have worked with Canadian officials there.
On Thursday night, Global News learned that the Canadian military is planning to withdraw some Canadians from its embassy in Kabul. The source told Global News at the time that the embassy was being “teared”, which was an evacuation process that included discarding classified items.
The source also told Global News on Thursday that several Afghan nationals and their families were waiting for rescue from the Canadian camp, although the Canadian government was still deciding whether to evacuate them with Canadian citizens there.
According to sources, Canadian special operations forces, including the Canadian Special Operations Regiment (CSOR) and Joint Task Force 2 (JTF2), will be deployed to rescue Canadians from the embassy.
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