2021 Kabul airlift

Evacuation from Afghanistan (2021)
Part of the War in Afghanistan
Evacuees load on to a United Arab Emirates Air Force Boeing C-17 Globemaster III during the evacuation on 20 August 2021
Location
Kabul, Afghanistan
ObjectiveEvacuations of international diplomatic, military and civilian staff, including national civilians
Date13 August 2021 (2021-08-13) – 30 August 2021 (2021-08-30)
Executed by Australia
 Austria[1]
 Azerbaijan
 Belgium (Operation Red Kite)
 Canada (Operation AEGIS)
 Czech Republic[2]
 Denmark
 Finland
 France (Operation Apagan)[3]
 Germany
 Hungary (Operation Sámán)
 India (Operation Devi Shakti)
 Indonesia
 Ireland[4]
 Italy (Operation Aquila Omnia)[5]
 Japan (Operation RJNO)
 Lithuania[6]
 Luxembourg
 Mexico[7]
 Netherlands
 New Zealand (Operation Kōkako)
 Norway
 Pakistan[8]
 Philippines[9]
 Poland
 Portugal[10]
 Romania
 Russia
 Slovakia
 Slovenia
 Singapore[11]
 South Korea (Operation Miracle)
 Spain (Operation Antígona)[12]
 Sweden[1]
 Switzerland
 Turkey
 Ukraine
 United Arab Emirates
 United Kingdom (Operation Pitting)
 United States (Operation Allies Refuge and private activities)[13]
 Taliban (security and logistics)[14][15]
OutcomeOver 122,000 people have been airlifted abroad[16] and end of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)[17]
Casualties195+ killed[18][19][20]

Large-scale evacuations of foreign citizens and some vulnerable Afghan citizens took place amid the withdrawal of US and NATO forces at the end of the 2001–2021 war in Afghanistan. The Taliban took control of Kabul and declared victory on 15 August 2021, and the NATO-backed Islamic Republic of Afghanistan collapsed. With the Taliban controlling the whole city except Hamid Karzai International Airport, hostilities ceased and the Taliban assisted in the evacuation effort by providing security and screening evacuees during the Biden administration.[14][15]

Although some countries had previously begun small-scale evacuation efforts in the months leading up to August 2021, such as the American Operation Allies Refuge and the British Operation Pitting, the collapse of the Afghan government occurred sooner than intelligence projections had estimated, and evacuation efforts became more urgent. Several countries launched new evacuation operations, such Canada's Operation AEGIS, India's Operation Devi Shakti, and South Korea's Operation Miracle.[27]

The evacuation operations were one of the largest airlifts in history.[28][29] Between 14 and 25 August, the US alone evacuated about 82,300 people from Hamid Karzai International Airport,[30] including US citizens, Special Immigrant Visa applicants, and other vulnerable Afghans.[29] In total, over 122,000 people were airlifted abroad.[16] The evacuation was completed on August 30, one day before a deadline agreed upon with the Taliban.[31]

US embassy staff arriving in Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar from Afghanistan on 15 August 2021
A C-17 evacuating 823 passengers out of Kabul on 15 August
  1. ^ a b Chughtai, Alia. "Infographic: Tracking the flights out of Kabul". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
  2. ^ Saric, Ivana (26 August 2021). "U.S. allies scramble to leave Afghanistan". Axios. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  3. ^ "Opération d'évacuation en Afghanistan". defense.gouv.fr (in French). Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Irish Army Rangers was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Esercito Italiano nell'Operazione "Aquila Omnia", Esercito Italiano
  6. ^ "More Afghan translators land in Lithuania, operation to wrap up Thursday". lrt.lt. 25 August 2021. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  7. ^ "Planeload of fleeing Afghans arrive in Mexico, including journalists". Reuters. 25 August 2021. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
  8. ^ Jamal, Sana (23 August 2021). "EU seeks Pakistan's help to evacuate foreigners from Kabul". Gulf News. Archived from the original on 23 August 2021. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference GMA evacuation was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ "Portugal envia quatro militares para o Afeganistão". RTP. 24 August 2021. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  11. ^ "Singapore to help US evacuate refugees from Afghanistan using RSAF tanker-transport plane". Channel NewsAsia. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
  12. ^ "¿Qué es la operación Antígona?". Newtral (in Spanish). 25 August 2021. Archived from the original on 25 August 2021.
  13. ^ "U.S. officials say 7 people died during Kabul airport evacuation chaos". Associated Press. 16 August 2021. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  14. ^ a b Trofimov, Yaroslav; Salama, Vivian (27 August 2021). "In Its Last Days in Kabul, U.S. Turns to Taliban as a Partner". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  15. ^ a b Seligman, Lara; Ward, Alexander; Desiderio, Andrew (26 August 2021). "U.S. officials provided Taliban with names of Americans, Afghan allies to evacuate". Politico. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  16. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference cnn-withdrawal was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  17. ^ Gibbons-Neff, Thomas; Katzenberg, Lauren (30 August 2021). "The U.S. military finishes its evacuation, and an era ends in Afghanistan". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
  18. ^ "At least 20 deaths in last week during Kabul airport evacuation effort -NATO official". Reuters. 22 August 2021.
  19. ^ "Germany says firefight involving Western forces erupts at Kabul Airport". Reuters. 23 August 2021.
  20. ^ U.S. on alert for more attacks, death toll rises from Kabul airport carnage, Reuters (27 August 2021).
  21. ^ "US warns of 'credible' threats of more Kabul attacks: Live". Al Jazeera. 27 August 2021.
  22. ^ "Taliban beat back crowd at Kabul airport after seven killed in crush". Reuters. 22 August 2021.
  23. ^ Baker, Sinéad (19 August 2021). "12 people have been killed at Kabul airport since Sunday as the Taliban say they 'don't want to hurt anyone'". Business Insider.
  24. ^ "U.S. officials say 7 people died during Kabul airport evacuation chaos". Associated Press. 16 August 2021. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  25. ^ "US troops to stay until Americans and eligible Afghans evacuated, says Biden". The Guardian. 16 August 2021. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  26. ^ "Firefight involving Western forces at Kabul airport, Afghan guard killed". Reuters. 23 August 2021.
  27. ^ Defence, National (24 August 2021). "Operation AEGIS". Government of Canada.
  28. ^ Fox, Ben; Stengle, Jamie (25 August 2021). "EXPLAINER: What's happening with Afghanistan evacuations?". Associated Press. Retrieved 24 March 2023.
  29. ^ a b Kaufman, Ellie; Liebermann, Oren; Stracqualursi, Veronica; Benveniste, Alexis (22 August 2021). "Pentagon activates US airlines to assist with evacuation efforts from Afghanistan". CNN. Retrieved 28 August 2021.
  30. ^ Jakes, Lara; Schmitt, Eric (25 August 2021). "The latest enemy to U.S. evacuation efforts in Afghanistan: Time". The New York Times.
  31. ^ Myre, Greg (24 August 2021). "CIA Chief And Taliban Leader Meet As Taliban Demand Aug. 31 U.S. Withdrawal". NPR. Retrieved 15 February 2023.