France evacuates dozens from Kabul overnight

PARIS — France has evacuated several dozen people from Kabul in a military plane after the Taliban took power in Afghanistan.

The flight early Tuesday brought the evacuees to a military air base in Abu Dhabi, and several of the passengers were then sent back to France.

The French military did not say whether there were Afghan or other citizens among the several dozen people brought on the overnight flight. France withdrew its last troops from Afghanistan in 2014 and has already evacuated more than 1,000 Afghans who supported French forces.

Images released by the military showed French troops checking their weapons and guarding the plane in the Kabul Airport while others checked the documents of those boarding the flight.

President Emmanuel Macron promised yesterday that France would not abandon Afghans who worked for the country, from translators to kitchen staff as well as artists, activists and others potentially under threat with the collapse of the Afghan government.