Spain set to evacuate “several hundred” Europeans and Afghans

Spain set to evacuate “several hundred” Europeans and Afghans from Kabul.

The government of Spain are set to evacuate several hundred people before the end of the month from Afghanistan. This will include Spanish, European and Afghan citizens.

Jose Manuel Albares, the head of Spanish diplomacy, said on Friday that “we are not going to leave anyone behind.”

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been reducing the number of staff at the embassy in Kabul and is ready to evacuate if the “rapid and serious deterioration of the situation on the ground” carries on, according to Albares.

Today, Sunday, August 15, the Spanish defence ministry have been speeding up the plans to evacuate Spanish nationals and staff from Afghanistan. The ministry said: “the evacuation plan for Afghanistan is being accelerated to the maximum,

“Details are finalized on logistics and the people who will be evacuated.” Due to security reasons no further details have been released at this time.

“The security of Spanish citizens is our first concern, but no one will be left behind. Neither the Afghans who have worked side by side with us nor their families”, said Albares. He added that the aim is to evacuate people “in the best possible conditions and in the shortest possible time”.

As reported El Pais, “The staff of the Spanish embassy is very small: two diplomats (the still ambassador Gabriel Ferran, who was awaiting his replacement, and the chargé d’affaires), eight local contractors and 17 police officers. In addition, there are six Spanish nationals in Kabul and a UN agency official who is outside the capital, although in contact with the embassy. The bulk of the evacuation, however, will be of Afghan nationals.”

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