Canada announced Thursday an end to helping President Joe Biden’s Afghanistan evacuation, joining other European allies leaving amid deadly attacks at Kabul’s airport.
“We wish we could have stayed longer and rescued everyone who was so desperate to leave that we could not is truly heartbreaking, but the circumstances on the ground rapidly deteriorated. This is an extraordinary humanitarian crisis,” acting Chief of Defense Staff Wayne Eyre explained.
Canada evacuated about 3,700 individuals from Afghanistan before the government felt the risk outweighed the benefit. Approximately 8,000 applied to be evacuated, according to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).
Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby on Thursday morning confirmed an explosion outside the Hamid Karzai International Airport, where U.S. troops are manning the perimeter and thousands of Afghans are desperately trying to get in. https://t.co/yWbYviCCQ7
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) August 26, 2021
Eyre also noted the surprise in which the Taliban took over the country. “We were surprised by the speed of the Taliban takeover of Kabul. And I’m sure there’ll be much ink spilt about about this,” he added.
After warnings of suicide attacks Wednesday and the U.S. embassy Kabul alert that U.S. citizens should shelter in place outside the airport, “Belgium decided to end its evacuation flights from Kabul on Wednesday night,” Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said at a news conference Thursday morning.
On Wednesday a Senate aide told CNN some 4,100 Americans remain stranded in Afghanistan, many not in or around Kabul.
Meanwhile, only 4,400 U.S. citizens and their families have been evacuated out of Afghanistan. The Pentagon said Wednesday nearly 10,000 people are waiting at Hamid Karzai International Airport for a flight. The Taliban-enforced evacuation deadline is in four days.
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø
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