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AFGHANISTAN

Afghanistan participation to be examined

The foreign minister calls on a thorough examination in order to "learn from both good and bad experiences" during a dozen years of war.

Afghanistan participation to be examined
43 Danish soldiers died in Afghanistan. Photo: Mads Nissen/Scanpix
Denmark’s foreign minister, Martin Lidegaard, has called for an extensive look into the nation’s involvement in the War in Afghanistan. 
 
Denmark’s formal military engagement ended in July 2013 after 12 years, but residuals forces remain in the country today. The war cost 43 Danish lives and a total of 20 billion kroner ($3.6 billion). 
 
Lidegaard did not detail what the investigation would entail but said it was important that the nation learn from its experience in Afghanistan. 
 
“We should be able to learn from what we did well and from what we did less well. We owe that to the soldiers, their next of kin and to the Danish people,” he told Politiken.
 
“I personally will not question whether it was necessary to get involved, but that’s the not the same as saying that we shouldn’t learn from both good and bad experiences,” he added. 
 
Lidegaard’s call to investigate Denmark’s involvement in Afghanistan was backed by the Conservatives, the Red-Green Alliance (Enhedslisten) and the Socialist People’s Party, while opposition parties Danish People’s Party and Venstre expressed scepticism. 

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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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