On Wednesday, the spokesperson for the French Ministry of Defense, Hervé Granjan, stated that Paris would not be able to remain in Kabul after the withdrawal of U.S. forces for security reasons. In an interview with "Al Arabiya," he said that the security situation at the Afghan capital's airport is very complicated, and they receive thousands of evacuation requests daily.
He added, "The priority in evacuation operations remains for the French and the Afghans who are our friends and fear the Taliban," noting, "We have succeeded in evacuating 2,400 people from Afghanistan, including 2,200 Afghans." He explained that U.S. forces largely guarantee the security of Kabul Airport. The deadline will end tomorrow, Thursday.
A senior French diplomat confirmed on Tuesday that the airbridge established by France to evacuate Afghans wishing to flee the Taliban would cease on Thursday if the United States withdraws from Afghanistan as planned on August 31. Nicolas Roche, director of the office of the French Foreign Minister, clarified to reporters that if the U.S. adheres to the deadline for the complete withdrawal of its forces by August 31, "this means for us that our operation ends on Thursday evening."
Since Kabul fell under Taliban control on August 15, France has established an air bridge to evacuate French citizens and threatened Afghans, with the Foreign Ministry indicating there are 62 additional French citizens who have not yet been evacuated. Authorities are also reviewing evacuation requests submitted by Afghans. It is noted that several countries, including the UK and France, had requested U.S. President Joe Biden to keep U.S. forces beyond August 31, the deadline set for the complete withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan to complete the evacuation operations.
