Search icon

News

18th Aug 2021

33 Irish people now looking to leave Afghanistan including eight children

Clara Kelly

“The number of Irish citizens looking to leave Afghanistan has increased slightly over the last 24 hours.”

The number of Irish people looking to leave Afghanistan has increased to 33, including eight kids, according to Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney.

Speaking to Newstalk on Wednesday, he said the number of Irish citizens looking for a way out of the country as the Taliban continues its takeover has risen from 15 to 33.

“The number of Irish citizens looking to leave Afghanistan has increased slightly over the last 24 hours – it’s now 33 people,” he said.

“That’s 25 adults and eight dependents. We are working with other EU countries, as you’d expect, to secure places for them on military flights out of Kabul airport.

“At the moment, the reports from Kabul airport are still quite chaotic. It’s not easy for even military planes to fly in and out.”

Coveney said that he is “relying on the US in particular” to help “secure safe passage through Kabul airport” for the citizens.

“This is a fluid situation, so you can’t say anything with certainty. What I can say is we had a very good discussion yesterday at the foreign affairs council in the EU,” he added.

“A lot was discussed… and one of the things was that EU countries would work together to ensure that every country’s citizens can get out.”

Thousands of Afghans and foreign nationals surged on to the tarmac at Kabul airport on Monday seeking a place on a flight out of the country.

Commercial flights have mostly been suspended, stranding Afghans and other foreign nationals in the country, while the US continues to evacuate its officials.

The Taliban declared the war in Afghanistan was over on Monday and has taken control of the presidential palace, with the elected president having fled the country.

Afghans now suddenly face the prospect of complete domination by the Taliban again, after the group – in just a matter of days – took the rest of the country in its grip.

The Islamist group was able to seize control after most foreign troops pulled out.

With fears the Taliban could reimpose the brutal regime they enforced prior to the war in 2001, Afghans and foreigners alike have been searching for a way out of the country.

Main Image: Julien Behal Photography/RollingNews.ie.

LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ with Conor Sketches | Tiger Woods loves Ger Loughnane and cosplaying as Charles LeClerc