Paris: France will fully terminate its operations to evacuate citizens of France and Afghanistan in the danger of the Taliban-controlled Kabul on Friday night, said Prime Minister Jean Castex said.
Outside this date, “it is impossible to evacuate from Kabul Airport,” Castex told RTL Radio Thursday.
A source close to the government added that the date had been applied in France with the United States plan, which provided security at the airport, to pull out on August 31.
The source added that France would carry out operations in place for more than that, by saying that civilian evacuation would end a few hours before the end of the mission when the military and the rest of the embassy service would leave.
The French Foreign Ministry has indicated that the final evacuation of civilians from Kabul by France will be late on Thursday or Friday morning.
Castex said that around 2,500 people have been evacuated by France since the arrest of Kabul by the Taliban on August 15.
The operation had seen refugees was taken to the French base in the United Arab Emirates with a military plane and then to France.
He said this figure included French citizens, but also “Afghans who have contributed, with one way or another, in their support for the army (France), also and their families, artists and journalists.” His comment came when England warned the risk of terror attacks that would soon occur at the airport, while the Netherlands also said it stopped evacuation flights.