Foreign minister Pekka Haavisto On Saturday night, Friday, Finland managed to evacuate another 83 people from the Afghan capital, including the guards of the Finnish Embassy in Kabul and their families.
These 83 people had traveled to the airport by bus that was stuck at a Taliban checkpoint 700 meters from the airport for 58 hours. U.S. forces reported to Finland on Friday that the 83 people on Finland’s evacuation list had been transported to an unspecified location. Finnish troops left Afghanistan on Thursday.
On Saturday, Finland had evacuated a total of 413 people. These included Finnish citizens, permanent residents and locally employed embassy employees at the Finnish Embassy in Kabul, as well as their families. Among the evacuees were also people working in EU and NATO operations.
Speaking to the press on Saturday Haavisto said the evacuation window had been closed when U.S. troops, who played a key role in helping Finnish evacuation, left Afghanistan. Haavisto told the media that he could not comment on the situation of persons who are not on the official evacuation list of the Finnish government.
About 45 guards employed by the Finnish mission in Kabul were left behind.
According to Haavisto, according to the government, the persons entered in the evacuation list worked "visible roles."
"Most of the evacuees were children," he said.
Finnish troops are returning
Finnish troops supporting the evacuation in Kabul landed in Finland on Saturday. However, the Finnish Defense Forces were on a tight path about the details of the operation.
Helsingin Sanomat said that two army cargo planes landed at Tampere Pirkkala Airport on Saturday at about 8.00.
Finnish troops left the Afghan capital on Thursday at about the same time as suicide bombers attacked Kabul airport. The attack did not pose an immediate threat to Finnish troops.
General Timo Kivinen, The Commander of the Finnish Defense Forces, thanked the Finnish forces in a statement from the Defense Forces on Saturday.
"You have performed your task in an exemplary manner," Kivinen said.
The operation received further praise from the Minister of Defense Antti Kaikkonen (Cen) on Saturday.
"The operation showed how the defense forces can operate quickly and professionally in difficult circumstances. We can be proud of their work," he tweeted.
Personnel from the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs also participated in the operation.
The Finnish army arrived in Kabul more than a week ago. The Defense Forces have not said how many soldiers were in Kabul, although reports said the group included a few dozen people.
This weekโs All Points North podcast was heard from Yleโs correspondent Maija Liuhto On the situation in Afghanistan. You can listen to the entire podcast using the embedded player here, via Yle Areena, Spotify or Apple Podcasts, or on your regular podcast player via RSS feed.
Source: The Nordic Page