Canadians fear the worst as they scramble to help loved ones get out of Kabul,
Taliban say there will be ‘no extensions’ to Aug. 31 deadline for withdrawal
The clock is ticking for Noori to get his family out of Afghanistan.
The former interpreter for the Canadian Forces has applied to get his parents, four brothers and sisters, and their families — a total of 20 people — to Canada under Ottawa’s renewed renewed special immigration program for Afghans.
He applied a month ago, he said, but they have not received any update from Canadian officials about the application, and his family has been kept out of the Kabul airport.
“We only have one week left to get everyone out. How are they going to be able to do that in a week?” asked Noori, who worked for the Canadian Forces as an interpreter in Kandahar between 2006 and 2009, and moved here a decade ago under a previous program to resettle former Afghan civilian staff.
The timeline to get something, anything, done was reinforced Tuesday as Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on the eve of a G7 meeting that the militant group would accept “no extensions” to the Aug. 31 deadline U.S. President Joe Biden set for the withdrawal of all American troops.
In a statement after the virtual meeting with other G7 leaders, White House press secretary Jen Psaki confirmed that American forces are “on pace” to pull out by the deadline.
In a separate statement, however, the G7 leaders, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, maintained it is their priority to ensure and continue the safe evacuation and safe passage out of Afghanistan through a co-ordinated resettlement effort.
On the campaign trail Tuesday, Trudeau offered to keep
Canadian military personnel in Afghanistan beyond Aug. 31.
“The commitment by our fellow G7 nations is clear: We’re all going to work together to save as many people as possible,” Trudeau said.
“Our commitment to Afghanistan doesn’t end when this current phase, this current deadline comes. We will continue to put pressure on the Taliban to allow people to leave the country.”
That’s music to the ear of Noori, but the Vancouver man said Ottawa needs to do more to escort Canadian-bound Afghan civilians from safe houses to the airport to give them a chance to fly out of the Taliban-controlled country.
“Their response is so slow. It’s
unfortunate and disappointing,” said Noori, who asked his first name be withheld for his family safety in Kabul.
According to Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan, the Royal Canadian Air Force flew another 500 people out of Kabul on Monday, bringing the total of evacuees to 2,200 since early August. It’s not clear how many of those on board the flight were Afghans and how many were Canadians or other foreign nationals being helped under a multinational operational agreement.
“Our @CanadianForces will continue working hard at the Kabul airport to evacuate Canadians and vulnerable Afghans. Canadian evacuation flights will continue for as long as conditions permit,” Sajjan tweeted.
U.S. administration officials have refused to be pinned down about whether an extension is likely or even possible given that a Taliban spokesman has warned that Aug. 31 is a “red line” and that extending the American presence would “provoke a reaction.”
The director of the CIA reportedly met with the Taliban’s top political leader in Kabul on Tuesday, as more reports emerged of abuses in areas held by the fighters.
A war veteran, who served on three tours with Canada’s special operations forces out of the “Graceland base,” said he has 1,500 former Afghan staff for
Canada and their family members on the ground awaiting Ottawa’s evacuation.
“They are afraid of the use of our special forces. I know the guys. They are on the ground. The other night, our (former) local employees were hundreds of metres away from them but they did not act,” said Merle, who asked his last name be withheld because he and others are still running safe houses to hide their Afghan friends from the insurgents.
“Finally now, they are actually putting Canadian soldiers out of the (airport) gate. We need our prime minister to use the assets that he has in his hand, to use our special forces to go get them to save some lives.”