BERLIN (GERMANY) -Germany’s immediate focus must be on evacuating up to 10,000 people from Afghanistan for whom its has responsibility, Chancellor Angela Merkel told party colleagues, warning the fallout from the conflict will last for a very long time.
The remarks, made at a closed-door meeting of her Christian Democrat party on Monday and relayed by meeting participants, reflect growing concern about bloodshed in Afghanistan after the Taliban seized the capital and proclaimed peace.
“We are witnessing difficult times,” Merkel said. “Now we must focus on the rescue mission.”
Merkel said Germany may need to evacuate as many as 10,000 people from Afghanistan, including 2,500 Afghan support staff as well as human rights activists, lawyers and others whom the government sees as being at risk if they remained in the country.
She also said that Germany should cooperate with countries bordering Afghanistan to support those fleeing from the country now, adding: “This topic will keep us busy for a very long time.”
Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said at the meeting that Germany had deployed special forces and paratroopers to help with the evacuation, adding it was “an extremely dangerous operation” for German troops.
“As long as it remains possible, the German army will get as many people as possible out of Afghanistan and maintain the air bridge,” she said, adding this depended on the willingness of the United States to keep the airport open.
No evacuation flights are leaving Kabul airport at the moment because desperate people trying to flee the country are blocking the tarmac, a spokesperson for the German foreign ministry said at a regular government news conference on Monday.
Forty staff from the German embassy were flown to Doha overnight, the spokesperson said, adding a small team of fewer than 10 staff would remain at Kabul airport to coordinate evacuations.
