Status: 08/21/2021 9:35 a.m.
In Kabul, many people are waiting for rescue who do not make it to the airport. Now two small Bundeswehr helicopters are to be used, which can land almost anywhere. The rescue flights also continue.
Two Bundeswehr helicopters have arrived in Kabul and are to be used to rescue “vulnerable people”. The two H145M helicopters were flown there on board an A400M transport plane.
According to the Ministry of Defense, the small H145M can be used to rescue individual German citizens or local workers from dangerous situations. Usually they are deployed with special forces such as soldiers from the KSK.
Small helicopters, great flexibility
The German helicopters were requested by the USA. The US Army mainly uses “large-volume helicopters” and needs a smaller machine in urban areas, said Inspector General Eberhard Zorn on Friday. “We have them.” The H145M only need a very small area to land.
When deployed, the Bundeswehr machines should always be accompanied by US helicopters. In the background there is also an “airborne intervention reserve” from the US side.
Presumably, the two H145Ms are always deployed in pairs in Kabul – one or two paratroopers or special forces will then be on board for protection. This means that a maximum of four or five people per machine can be flown out.
US helicopters rescue people from hotel
The US military mainly uses large “Chinook” helicopters. Only on Friday 169 people were picked up from a hotel in Kabul with three “Chinooks”, said Pentagon spokesman John Kirby. Without this mission, it would probably not have been possible for the people concerned to get to the airport safely due to the crowds around the airport.
The large transport helicopters with two main rotors, however, require large open spaces in order to be able to land.
“Chinooks” played a crucial role in the evacuation of several embassies in Kabul.
Image: dpa
Bundeswehr flights reach Tashkent
Meanwhile, the Bundeswehr continued its evacuation mission with airplanes. During the night, “172 vulnerable people” were flown out of Kabul on board an A400M. The Bundeswehr announced this on Twitter. The machine landed in Tashkent in Uzbekistan shortly after 11 p.m. Central European summer time.
Another flight took off from Kabul that night, but there were only seven people on board.
According to calculations by the dpa news agency, 1,800 people have been brought to safety from Afghanistan with the help of the Bundeswehr after the Taliban took power in the country. The AFP news agency even spoke of more than 2,000 people. These are German citizens, Afghan local staff and people from a total of 36 other countries.
Dangerous situation in Kabul
Safety in Kabul and at the city’s airport is crucial for rescue flights. However, the situation there remains tense. During the night, the German embassy pointed out that access to the airport in Kabul was particularly difficult. “The situation at Kabul Airport is still extremely confusing. Dangerous situations and armed conflicts at the gates are becoming more and more common,” the letter said. “The NORTH GATE of Hamid Karzai International Airport, military section will definitely be closed tonight.”
Two Germans have already been injured. A man was slightly injured, confirmed the Foreign Office. Already on Friday it became known that another German was shot on the way to the airport. It is a civilian, said Vice Government Spokeswoman Ulrike Demmer. The man’s life is not in danger.
More and more people rescued from Afghanistan arrive in Germany
Jennifer Lange, NDR, Tagesschau 8:00 p.m., August 20, 2021
Development Minister for Major Evacuation Mission
Federal Development Minister Gerd Müller advocated expanding the Bundeswehr’s ongoing rescue operation in Afghanistan. In development cooperation alone, according to the criteria of the federal government, “potentially 1,800 local workers and their families would have the right to leave the country,” said the CSU politician to the newspapers of the Funke media group.
According to previous regulations, Afghan local workers, their spouses and underage children are entitled to travel to Germany. Adult children are so far excluded. Müller emphasized that “in individual cases” it is “inhumane” to separate families. Therefore the rules would have to be changed.
Furthermore, Müller urged Germany to make significantly stronger financial efforts. The announced 100 million euros for humanitarian refugee aid are “decidedly too little”. In order to support Afghanistan’s neighboring countries in receiving and caring for refugees, Müller spoke out in favor of an international immediate initiative by the G7 and G20 countries. More than five billion euros would have to be collected to support UN aid organizations. Germany should contribute 500 million euros.
Baerbock accuses Maas of “huge failure”
The Left Party’s parliamentary group called for family members of Afghan citizens already living in Germany to be included in the Bundeswehr’s evacuation mission. Ulla Jelpke, domestic politician of the Left Party, criticized the sluggish issuance of visas for traveling to Germany from her point of view. “Waiting over a year just to be able to apply for a visa is simply unacceptable,” Jelpke also told the Funke media group acute danger. “
Annalena Baerbock, the Greens’ candidate for chancellor, also urged local Afghan workers and their families to be flown out of Afghanistan as quickly as possible. She also called for the same for people who campaigned for democracy and human rights in Afghanistan. Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas accused them of “a huge failure”. For months it had been clear that local Afghan workers needed protection. “Experts have clearly warned of the dangers. The Bundeswehr has warned against this. But this federal government has decided to submerge in foreign policy,” criticized Baerbock in the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”.