When will the French evacuations from Afghanistan end ? If the question seemed decided, a statement by the Secretary of State for European Affairs sowed doubt this Friday morning. Asked about the subject, following the double suicide bombing perpetrated near Kabul airport on Thursday, Clément Beaune explained on Europe 1 that the evacuations could go “beyond tonight” even if he specified that ‘it was necessary “to remain cautious on this subject”.
Clément Beaune sur l'attentat de Kaboul : "Nous ne savons pas encore toute la réalité de cette horreur"#Europe1 pic.twitter.com/EEbqZb9Fgn
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France had initially planned to complete its operation this Friday evening, a deadline “imposed” by the Americans, as Prime Minister Jean Castex recalled this Thursday . A calendar also mentioned this Friday morning by the Minister of Transport, Jean-Baptiste Djebbari, who reported on the “last flights this evening” on the CNews channel .
“Until the last second possible”
But France is still trying to evacuate several hundred Afghans, in a chaotic context after the double attack claimed by the jihadist group Islamic State which killed dozens of people, including thirteen American soldiers , Thursday at Kabul airport.
“The terrorist attack must not prevent these operations (…) We will continue until the last possible second”, declared Clément Beaune. “Does this mean that all the people who worked in Afghanistan for allies, for Europeans will be able to leave the airport? Probably not, ”he conceded, thus suggesting that all threatened Afghans who try to leave their country probably could not do so. However, he assured that France would provide solutions “beyond this emergency operation”.