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28-08-2021
JERUSALEM/ KABUL: As Western troops race to evacuate as many people as possible and get out of Afghanistan by August 31, the US pull-out deadline, an Israel-based organization said it is working to evacuate Afghans on private flights from Kabul airport.
The organization is chartering private flights to Kabul airport and has evacuated 300 people so far, Shai Fund, a humanitarian organization based in Israel and registered in the US, told media on Wednesday.
“We have had one flight so far get out with over 300 persons. Another two flights are on the Tarmac,” Charmaine Hedding, an emergency response specialist and president of the group, told MEE via email.
“We are helping anyone fleeing the Taliban who is at risk.”
The looming deadline has intensified pressure to complete the evacuations of tens of thousands of foreigners and Afghans who helped Western countries during the 20-year war against the Taliban.
Shots were fired by unknown gunmen at an Italian military plane as it flew out of Kabul on Thursday, an Italian defence source said. It was undamaged.
Canadian forces halted their evacuations of around 3,700 Canadian and Afghan citizens on Thursday, saying they had stayed as long as they could. The US and allied troops also have to plan the logistics of their own withdrawal.
In an alert on Wednesday, the US Embassy in Kabul advised citizens to avoid travelling to the airport and said those already at the gates should leave immediately, citing unspecified “security threats”.
In another advisory, Britain told people to move away from the airport area. Its armed forces minister, James Heappey, said intelligence about a possible suicide bomb attack by IS militants had become “much firmer”.
The Taliban have said foreign troops must be out by the end of the month. They have encouraged Afghans to stay while saying those with permission to leave will still be allowed to do so once commercial flights resume.
Since 14 August, thousands of Afghans have rushed to the capital city’s airport in hope of leaving the country, with firefights and violent clashes that have led to the death of one Afghan and the wounding of several others.
The US and its allies have evacuated 82,000 people out of Afghanistan since it began its evacuation, the White House said on Wednesday.
The World Health Organization only has enough supplies in Afghanistan to last for a week after deliveries of medical equipment from abroad were blocked by restrictions at Kabul airport, a senior regional WHO official had said on Tuesday.
The UN agency was also concerned the current upheaval in Afghanistan could push up COVID-19 infections, with testing dropping by 77% in the past week and vaccinations also down, officials from the WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean office said. (Int’l News Desk)
