Georgia evacuating citizens out of Afghanistan amid Taliban’s return to Kabul
People are trying to flee Afghanistan after the Taliban took control of Kabul on August 15. Photo:AFP.
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The Georgian Foreign Ministry and the administration of the government of Georgia are working in coordination to ensure the safe return of several Georgian citizens who are now in Afghanistan, after the Taliban seized control of Kabul yesterday and crowds are trying to flee the country.
The Georgian Foreign Ministry said that the Georgian citizens, who were contract employees in Afghanistan, contacted them yesterday and ‘we have instantly begun taking actions to help them.’
Turkey is ready to transport our citizens to Kabul airport in armored vehicles. This operation is underway now. From the airport our partners will ensure their arrival in Georgia," Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksandre Khvtisiashvili stated earlier today.
He said that Georgia will send a plane to evacuate the 23 Georgian citizens.
They are former soldiers. 17 are contract employees in a Canadian company, while the remaining six work in an American company," Khvtisiashvikli said.
???????? Georgia is sending its aircraft to #Kabul to evacuate 23 Georgian citizens from ???????? Afghanistan. All of them are serving as private contractors in Canadian and American companies.
— Visioner (@visionergeo) August 16, 2021
Founder of the Georgian opposition political party Droa Elene Khoshtaria has tweeted that 22 Georgian citizens are stuck in Kabul.
???? 22 Georgians are stuck in #Kabul & need help getting out. We have informed the @MFAgovge & are ready to cooperate with anyone that can help. Please spread the word.
— Helen Khoshtaria (@Helenkhosh) August 15, 2021
US soldiers operating the Kabul airport, as crowds are trying to flee the country.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled the country shortly before the Taliban took control of Kabul and declared its victory.
860 Georgian soldiers will start leaving Afghanistan in May as the US and NATO will begin withdrawing their troops from the country after two decades of war.NATO allies agreed on Wednesday, according to US plans, to start removing troops by May 1.The pull-out is to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks in the US by jihadist organization al-Qaida.
One hundred Georgian soldiers from the third infantry brigade have already left Afghanistan and returned to Georgia as the US and NATO have begun withdrawing their troops from the country after two decades of war.
Georgian soldiers from the III infantry brigade have been recognized for their service in Nato’s Resolute Support mission in northern Afghanistan, receiving awards for exemplary service from the Multinational Battalion commander and Lieutenant Colonel Wolfgang Schroeder.
A company of Georgian soldiers of the second infantry brigade have joined Nato’s Resolute Support mission in northern Afghanistan to provide security to Camp Marmal, a base of the German Bundeswehr forces.
The joint statement of 25 European Union member states and more than 40 other countries calls for ‘the safe and orderly departure of foreign nationals and Afghans who wish to leave the country’ amid the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan.
Six Georgian citizens, who worked for a US company in Afghanistan, have been evacuated from the country via a Hungarian charter flight, the Georgian Foreign Ministry has reported. The Georgian citizens, who were trying to flee the country after the Taliban seized control of Kabul on August 15, have already landed in Tbilisi. Sixteen other Georgian citizens remain in Afghanistan currently and the Georgian Foreign Ministry says they are doing ‘their utmost’ to ensure their safe return.
The last sixteen Georgian citizens remaining in Kabul following the Taliban’s capture of Kabul on August 15 have been evacuated from the country. The IPN news agency has cited the Georgian Foreign Ministry as saying that the individuals have been evacuated via a British charter flight. The agency said that the British plane will land in Dubai and the individuals will be able to return to Georgia from Dubai later today.
The last sixteen Georgian citizens remaining in Afghanistan following the Taliban’s capture of Kabul on August 15, arrived in Tbilisi earlier today after their evacuation from Kabul on August 20. Deputy Head of the Administration of the Government of Georgia Revaz Javelidze and Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksandre Khvtisiashvili were waiting for them at Tbilisi international airport. Javelidze said that the evacuation process of Georgian citizens from Afghanistan ‘was very complicated’ and it was made possible thanks to the support of the US, UK, Turkey and Hungary.
Tbilisi International Airport is being used as a way station by evacuation flights of the NATO Military Transportation Organisation, which is running daily flights to Kabul and back, the Georgian government reports. "From Tbilisi, passengers evacuated from Kabul are being transported abroad via various charter flights. Up to 2,000 individuals have been evacuated so far via Georgian territory,” said the statement.
Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani stated earlier today that Russian agencies are distributing disinformation in claiming that Georgia is taking in Afghan refugees, amid the country’s involvement in the evacuation process from Afghanistan.
Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Kristalina Georgieva has sent a letter to Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili in which she offers 'deepest gratitude' on behalf of the IMF and its staff for Georgia's assistance in the 'safe and swift' evacuation of fund personnel and their families from Afghanistan.
United States Under Secretary for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland said the US is ‘enormously grateful to the huge network of countries that have provided critical assistance’ for their evacuation efforts from Afghanistan, including Georgia.
US State Secretary Antony Blinken has thanked Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani for Georgia’s contribution to peacekeeping missions in Afghanistan, the Georgian Foreign Ministry reports.