As US pulls out of Afghan: China evacuates nationals
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Afghan soldiers patrol near a checkpoint recaptured from the Taliban, in the Alishing district of Laghman province on July 8, 2021. (Photo credits: Reuters)
Beijing: As the US military has started its military pull out from Afghanistan toward a self-set deadline of September 11, there are fears about failing security situation as much as of a political uncertainty.
That has made China send a flight to bring home 210 of its nationals from Afghanistan, state media reported on Friday. The Global Times newspaper published by the ruling Communist Party said the Xiamen Airlines flight departed on July 2 from the capital Kabul and landed in the central province of Hubei. The airline confirmed the report in a post on its Twitter-like Weibo account but offered no additional details.
The Global Times and other reports said 22 of those onboard tested positive for COVID-19, although those numbers did not appear on the National Health Commission's daily report of new cases.
US forces are scheduled to leave Afghanistan by August 31 after nearly 20 years of battling the Taliban.
Chinese companies have invested in Afghan mining and infrastructure, but those assets appear increasingly under threat as the Taliban seize large amounts of territory, possibly placing Kabul at risk.
Meanwhile, reports have also emerged of the Taliban forces zeroing in on regional capitals, as it happened in Tala-i-Naw in northwestern Badghis province on Thursday, where the government has flown in hundreds of commandos to take on rival Taliban.