A first German military plane that landed in Kabul after being captured by the Taliban evacuated just seven people, the government said today due to the chaos at the airport in the Afghan capital.
Germany, the second-largest military unit in Afghanistan after the United States, wants to fly thousands of Germans with dual citizenship, as well as human rights activists, lawyers and people who have worked with foreign forces.
Defense Secretary Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said the A400M transport aircraft made a “daring landing” late yesterday afternoon with the main purpose of bringing in German troops to ensure the evacuation of the men.
“We have a very chaotic, dangerous and complicated situation at the airport,” she stated.
“We had very little time, so we only got people on the plane on the spot”. The A400M is designed to carry 114 passengers although it is understood that up to 150 people could be transported with it during the evacuation operation.
Only seven made it as the plane had to leave quickly and other Germans could not reach the airport without protection from German soldiers, a foreign ministry spokesman said.
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“People from the political section of the airport were not allowed to enter by our partners in charge of the security at the airport”, the spokesman of the German foreign ministry said.
As 600 troops are expected to take part in the evacuation, Germany hopes to be able to evacuate more people in the coming hours. The German army was able to bring only paratroopers from the Rapid Deployment Division – who are specially trained for evacuation operations – to Kabul with this first aircraft.
The flights resumed early this morning after being suspended the previous day as desperate people trying to flee after the Taliban seized power blocked the runway.
