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AFGHANISTAN

Norway parliament to force Afghanistan review

Norway's opposition moved on Tuesday to demand a review of the country's engagement in Afghanistan, with a clear majority of the country's MPs likely to back the proposal.

Norway parliament to force Afghanistan review
Defence Minister Ine Eriksen Søreide and Army chief Haakon Bruun-Hanssen at Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan - Stephen Olsen / Forsvaret / NTB scanpix
The Liberal and Christian Democratic parties joined forces to make the demand, which has the backing of the Labour and Socialist Left Parties. 
 
"We demand a complete review of all our missions in Afghanistan. What has worked well, what has worked badly and what we can learn from it," Liberal leader Trine Skei Grande told Dagsavisen newspaper. 
 
The call followed the admission by Norway's defense minister Ine Marie Eriksen Søreide on Sunday that Norwegian troops would continue to operate in Afghanistan for years after 2014, when the Nato-led  International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) is scheduled to be replaced by a smaller training and mentoring mission. 
 
After visiting Afghanistan to review the troops, Søreide said that the end of ISAF would not mean a lesser role for Norwegian troops. 
 
“I don’t see that it’s very likely that we will contribute with something completely different from today,” she told news bureau NTB.
 
Both the Christian Democratic and Liberal Parties support reducing the Norwegian involvement in the new Nato operation, Labour largely supports maintaining Norwegian troops, and the Socialist Left support a total withdrawal as soon as possible. 
 

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AFGHANISTAN

Spain starts evacuating Afghan employees via Pakistan

Spain was on Monday evacuating via Pakistan Afghan helpers left behind when western forces quit Kabul, a government source confirmed on condition of anonymity.

A group of Afghan nationals stand on the tarmac after disembarking from the last Spanish evacuation flight at the Torrejon de Ardoz air base near Madrid in August. Photo: PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU / AFP)
A group of Afghan nationals stand on the tarmac after disembarking from the last Spanish evacuation flight at the Torrejon de Ardoz air base near Madrid in August. Photo: PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU / AFP)

The government source declined to give any details of the move, citing security concerns.

But Spanish media, including daily El País and National Radio, reported that Madrid would bring close to 250 Afghan citizens, who had already crossed into Pakistan and would be flown out on military transport planes.

The first flight was expected to arrive on Monday evening.

Spain’s evacuations have been weeks in the making, with Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares visiting Pakistan and Qatar in early September to lay the groundwork.

Madrid evacuated over 2,000 people, most of them Afghans who had worked for Spain and their families, during the western withdrawal as the Taliban seized power in Kabul in August.

But the flights had to stop once the final American troops that had been protecting the Afghan capital’s airport left.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said in August that Spain would not “lose interest in the Afghans who had remained” in their country but wanted to leave.

The European Union’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, on Friday urged the bloc’s member states to host a “minimum” of between 10,000 and 20,000 more Afghan refugees.

“To welcome them, we have to evacuate them, and we’re getting down to it, but it’s not easy,” he said in Madrid.

The EU has said a demand by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to take in 42,500 Afghan refugees over five years can be achieved — although any decision lies with member states.

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