Spanish Foreign Min in Pakistan to evacuate Afghans who helped Spain

September 10, 2021

MADRID (Reuters) – Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares arrived in Pakistan on Friday to ask for help in securing the evacuation from Afghanistan of people who worked with Spanish forces there.

Spain says it has already evacuated more than 2,200 people from Afghanistan, most of them Afghans at risk of reprisals from the new Taliban rulers for having worked for Spanish forces, the Spanish embassy, European Union institutions or U.S. forces during 20 years of NATO presence.

“I’ll try to find safe ways to leave for the Afghans who helped us, with the aim of not leaving anyone behind,” Albares said in a video posted on Twitter.

He was due to meet Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Army Chief of Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa to tell them Madrid would take care of Afghans who had worked with Spain crossing into Pakistan.

Spain sent 27,000 troops to Afghanistan over almost 20 years of involvement in the conflict, and 102 of its soldiers died there.

(Reporting by Inti Landauro; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

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