KYIV (Reuters) – A Ukrainian military plane evacuated 83 people from Kabul on Sunday, including journalists, activists, and Afghan women and children, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said.
Thousands of people wanting to escape Afghanistan’s new Taliban rulers have gathered at the airport as the United States and other nations attempt to evacuate thousands of their diplomats and civilians as well Afghans.
The Taliban imposed some order outside the airport on Sunday, firing in the air and using batons to make sure people formed orderly queues at the main gates and did not gather at the perimeter, witnesses said.
“Today, a Ukrainian military plane took 83 more people out of Kabul. 31 Ukrainians + foreigners: journalists of @RFERL, @WSJ, @USATODAY, human rights activists, Afghan women & kids,” Kuleba wrote in a tweet. “They’re safe in Kyiv. We don’t abandon our people and help others. Working on further evacuations.”
In a separate statement, the president’s office said more than 100 Ukrainians remained in Afghanistan.
Ukraine last week helped evacuate Sahraa Karimi, an Afghan filmmaker and the first woman to head the state-run Afghan Film Organization.
(Reporting by Matthias Williams; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)
