France Evacuates More than 300 People from Afghanistan

By Staff, Agencies

France has carried out an evacuation mission in Afghanistan, taking 258 Afghans as well as 11 French, some 60 Dutch nationals and an unspecified number of people linked to them out of the country, a French foreign ministry spokeswoman said on Friday.

Evacuees included Afghans who were at risk, such as journalists and people with links to France, including civilian workers employed by the French army.

Since September 10, at least 110 French people and 396 Afghans have been evacuated from Afghanistan on 10 flights organized with the help of Qatar, the statement added.

France and Qatar jointly operated a humanitarian mission on Thursday, delivering medical equipment, food and winter supplies to international organizations operating in the country with a Qatari military plane, the French foreign ministry spokeswoman said.

The United Nations Development Program [UNDP] this week described an “alarming” socioeconomic outlook for Afghanistan for the next 13 months.