New Zealand Defence Force Leave To Afghanistan For Evacuating People

A Defence Force Hercules is heading towards Kabul to rescue New Zealanders and their families trapped in Afghanistan. According to news from the online flight tracker websites, the Defence Force left an airbase in the Middle East flying towards Afghanistan on Monday.

As per the current status, landing at the Kabul airport seems to be a problem for the Defence Force. Nawidullah Atayee​, a former Defence Force interpreter who resettled in New Zealand in 2013, said members of his family were among those who left from Kabul on Sunday, after spending 18 hours trying to get through the crowd. Before this evacuating mission, some New Zealanders were evacuated from Afghanistan by other military services and reached Auckland on Monday.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said, "The people were evacuated from Afghanistan to the United Arba Emirates and then were brought back to New Zealand with the help of Australian Defence Force".

"The chances of evacuating people out of Afghanistan are very less and, despite our full efforts, we cannot guarantee we can assist all those who are seeking to evacuate", Jacinda added.