Spain starts new evacuation operations out of Afghanistan to help families left behind

Spanish authorities said on Sunday that the country has started a new evacuation operation to help more Afghans and their families left behind following the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.

Spain’s Defense Ministry confirmed to The Associated Press that it is working with the foreign ministry on a new evacuation mission.

The ministry said it would not give any more details in order to protect the mission, but Spanish news agency EFE reported that the plan was to get out some 200 people via Pakistan.

Spanish Foreign Affairs Minister José Albares visited both Pakistan and Qatar last month to ask for their assistance in evacuating more Afghan workers who had not been included in the first airlifts from Kabul.

Spain successfully evacuated some 2,200 people — Spaniards and Afghans — in the frantic days following the fall of Kabul in August.