This handout photo taken and released by the French Etat-major des Armees on August 16, 2021 shows French soldiers boarding an A400M Atlas at the Bricy Air Base, a French Air and Space Force base near Orleans, for the UAE as part of the operation Apagan. The military operation dubbed Apagan, involving two French air force transport planes, a C-130 Hercules and an A400M Atlas, was launched on August 15, 2021 in order to evacuate French nationals from Afghanistan where the Taliban have taken over the country. (File photo: AFP)

Military evacuation flights taking off from Kabul: Western official

Afghanistan

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Reuters, Kabul

Published: 17 August ,2021: 07:09 AM GST Updated: 17 August ,2021: 07:15 AM GST

Military flights evacuating diplomats and civilians from Afghanistan started taking off on Tuesday morning, a Western security official at Kabul airport told Reuters.

The airport runway and tarmac, overrun on Monday by thousands of people desperate to flee from the Afghanistan capital, are now clear of crowds, the official said.

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US forces, which are in charge at the airport, had halted the evacuation flights because of the chaos.

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