Last German Evacuation Flight Departs From Kabul

The German airlift of its citizens from Afghanistan has come to a rapid close, as the last military flight evacuating German nationals and local personnel from Afghanistan took off on Thursday evening.

Photo Insert: A Bundeswehr soldier sees to the needs of Afghan evacuees onboard the German airlift.

All German soldiers, diplomats, and members of the police force have now been flown out of Kabul, Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said in Berlin after the departure.

Three other German evacuation flights took off earlier from Kabul airport on Thursday, all of which were bound for the Uzbek capital Tashkent, sources told Carsten Hoffmann and Michael Fischer of Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa).

The international forces at Kabul airport remain dependent on the protection of US troops during their evacuation operations, and on Tuesday US President Joe Biden confirmed his intention to withdraw his troops by August 31.

The airlift gained pace after increasing warnings of terrorist attacks around the airport in Kabul, where many people still hope to be evacuated from Afghanistan. On Thursday, explosions occurred outside the airport.

There have been no German victims so far, according to the German Foreign Office. "We currently have no information about German victims," Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said in Berlin on Thursday.

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