Berlin is negotiating with the US and Turkey on how to keep Kabul airport running | international | News

The German government is discussing with the United States and Turkey how to keep Kabul airport operational beyond August 31, an issue that must be “addressed” with the Taliban, Foreign Minister Heiko Maas admitted.

The German minister said the goal is to be able to continue with evacuations from the Afghan capital after that date and “as long as it is viable”, for which it is studying how to use one of its civilian stations.

Maas stressed that the situation at the moment was “increasingly chaotic” and the goal was to save “as many people as possible”.

German Defense Ministry sources said today that Germany has so far managed to evacuate more than 3,000 people of 43 different nationalities, including about 1,800 Afghans.

About 340 of the evacuees were mainly German citizens, including embassy staff and their families or members of NGOs, mainly. The Afghan evacuees are former local aides of the diplomatic commission and other organizations, alone or with their family members.

Defense sources estimated that 5,000 people were waiting in the vicinity of the airport for an opportunity to evacuate.

Maas stressed that 1,800 Afghans who had been deported from the country made it to the airport “thanks to extraordinary efforts”. However, they are only a minority compared to the total of 10,000 that Germany is trying these days to remove from the country.

The evacuation is carried out by three A400M aircraft of the German army, flying day and night between Kabul and Tashket in Uzbekistan, they have already made about twenty flights. From this city they are then taken on Lufthansa planes to Germany.

According to sources from this airline, up to 1,500 evacuees from Tacht have now been flown to German territory.

In addition, the German army sent to Kabul, where the situation remains “unchanged tragic”, about 13 tons of aid, including baby food, diapers and hygiene items for people waiting for evacuation.