The last Polish plane carrying people evacuated from the Afghan capital arrived in Warsaw on Thursday morning, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported.
During the last 10 days, a total of 14 planes brought in over 1,300 people to Poland, Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Przydacz told reporters.
He was quoted by state news agency PAP as saying that the main goals of the Polish evacuation mission "have been accomplished," leading the government to end the effort.
"Due to the safety of our troops, consuls and diplomats working in Kabul, we have decided to wrap up the mission,” Przydacz said, as quoted by PAP.
Marcin Przydacz. Photo: Marcin Dławichowski/IAR
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said Poland was providing support to all those it evacuated from Afghanistan.
“Besides all the Poles who wanted to leave Afghanistan, we managed to evacuate over 900 Afghan citizens, including nearly 300 women and almost 300 children,” Morawiecki said, adding that the government “will provide support for them here in Poland.”
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki briefs reporters on Poland's evacuation efforts in Afghanistan at a news conference in Warsaw on Thursday. Photo: PAP/Piotr Nowak
Meanwhile, Afghanistan's ambassador to Poland, Tahir Qadiry, whose family has been evacuated from Kabul to Warsaw, has thanked Polish authorities and organisations for their help amid the Taliban takeover of his country.
Qadiry said that Polish soldiers deployed to Kabul to help in the evacuation "reached out to all those who had stood by the Polish military during its mission in Afghanistan.”
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and Afghanistan's ambassador to Poland, Tahir Qadiry, during a news conference in Warsaw on Thursday. Photo: PAP/Piotr Nowak
More than 70,000 people have been evacuated from Afghanistan since the Taliban took over Kabul, US President Joe Biden announced on Wednesday.
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Source: IAR, PAP