Netherlands to stop Kabul evacuations on Thursday

The Netherlands will stop evacuating people from Afghanistan on Thursday. The operation at the airport in the capital of Kabul will be stopped at the direction of the Americans, the cabinet informed parliament. Earlier, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs called in people in Afghanistan not to come to Kabul airport.

"This is a painful moment because it means that despite all the great efforts of the past period, people who are eligible for evacuation to the Netherlands will remain behind. The Netherlands has been informed by the United States that it must leave today and will most likely carry out the last flights later today," the cabinet wrote to parliament.

The situation at and around Kabul airport is deteriorating "very quickly". That is why people are being urged not to come to the airport anymore. The Dutch military and diplomats present can no longer "assist" people who want to leave to gain access to the airport. "Every effort is being made to get the several hundred people who are now inside the gates of the airports on the flights scheduled for today."

The Dutch diplomats and soldiers will leave with the last flight. An aircraft and a small group of military personnel will remain stationed in the region in case people can still be taken from Kabul. Hundreds more people are on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' lists to be evacuated.