More than Two Hundred Evacuated Individuals Arrive at Zurich Airport from Afghanistan

A plane carrying two hundred and nineteen people evacuated from Afghanistan has landed in Switzerland. Among the passengers were one hundred and forty-one Afghans who worked at the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation office in Kabul, along with their family members. The flight also included seventy-eight Afghans, Germans, and Swedes. They were initially evacuated from Kabul to Tashkent in neighboring Uzbekistan before completing the final leg of their journey overnight on a Swiss International Air Lines flight. The previously scheduled flight for last weekend was postponed due to security concerns. Swiss authorities reported on Monday, August 23, that the plane also carried protective materials against the COVID-19 pandemic to Tashkent, with the Swiss Army pharmacy providing about 1.3 million medical masks. Additionally, there were eight members of the Swiss Humanitarian Aid Unit from the Foreign Ministry on board, along with two doctors to accompany the evacuees on their return to Switzerland. Eight employees from the Federal Office of Police also accompanied the flight for security reasons. The Foreign Ministry stated on Monday: "Through this charter flight by Swiss, Switzerland is making a tangible contribution to the evacuation efforts being made by the international community." Indeed, the number of individuals evacuated on this flight adds to the one hundred people that Switzerland previously managed to evacuate after the Taliban gained control over Afghanistan.