Using Indonesian Air Force Planes, The Government Successfully Evacuates 24 Indonesian Citizens From Afghanistan

JAKARTA - The Indonesian government evacuated Indonesian citizens (WNI) from Afghanistan after being occupied by the Taliban group. This evacuation was carried out using Indonesian Air Force aircraft.

This news was conveyed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Retno Marsudi, through her Twitter account @Menlu_RI.

"Alhamdullilah, the Indonesian government has succeeded in evacuating Indonesian citizens from Kabul, Afghanistan with Indonesian Air Force aircraft", she was quoted as saying in her tweet on Friday, August 20.

Retno said the plane was currently in Islamabad to continue its journey to Indonesia.

The number of Indonesian citizens who were evacuated reached 26 people, including the staff of the Indonesian Embassy (KBRI).

In addition, this aircraft also evacuated 7 foreign nationals consisting of 5 Filipinos and 2 Afghans who are husbands of Indonesian citizens and local staff at the Indonesian Embassy.

As previously reported, the Taliban succeeded in entering the capital city of Kabul and occupying the presidential palace on Sunday, August 15, making President Ashraf Ghani flee and foreign countries trying to evacuate diplomats, foreign missions, and civilians in Afghanistan.

The successive attacks launched by the Taliban made them much faster to control Afghanistan. This is a far cry from US intelligence estimates that the Taliban will besiege Kabul within 30 days and capture the city in 90 days of successive attacks.