France says ‘a few dozen’ French citizens still in Afghanistan

By AP 31 August 2021, 6:34 pm

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Taliban special forces arrive at the Hamid Karzai International Airport after the US military's withdrawal, in Kabul, Afghanistan, on August 31, 2021. (AP/Khwaja Tawfiq Sediqi)

PARIS — France says that “a few dozen” French nationals remain in Afghanistan, including some who wanted to be evacuated but could not as the last flight left Kabul.

French Defense Ministry spokesman Herve Grandjean says in a news conference today that “all efforts are being done” to allow those left behind to get “a safe and orderly evacuation.”

He said “that is the goal of the talks under way within the United Nations framework with the Taliban power.”

In addition, France was not able to evacuate a “few dozen” former Afghan employees of the French army who asked for the protection of the country, Grandjean says.

France will do “the maximum” in the coming days and weeks to help them getting out of Afghanistan, he says.

France’s evacuation flights from August 17 to August 27 have evacuated about 2,600 Afghans at risk, including 110 former employees of the French army and their families.

France withdrew its troops from Afghanistan at the end of 2014.