French President Emmanuel Macron announced in an interview with Le Journal du Dimanche that France and the United Kingdom will call at the United Nations on Monday for the creation of a protected area in Kabul to carry out humanitarian operations.
With the aim of meeting the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, both countries are preparing a “draft resolution” that seeks to designate a “safe zone” in Kabul, under the control of the United Nations, allowing “humanitarian operations to continue,” Macron said.
“It is very important. This would give the United Nations a framework to act urgently and, above all, allow everyone to shoulder their responsibilities and the international community to keep the pressure on the Taliban,” he added.
The Afghan evacuations, which began two weeks ago as Kabul fell to the Taliban, are nearing an end, days before the full withdrawal of US soldiers from Afghanistan on August 31.
The French president said on Saturday that France, which ended its operations on Friday night, had begun talks with the Taliban to “protect” and transfer “Afghans and Afghans” at risk after that date to France.
Macron said in Baghdad, where he attended a regional summit, that Paris has the help of Qatar, which, thanks to its good relations with the Taliban, “can organize air transport operations or reopen certain air routes.”
Speaking to Le Journal du Dimanche, the president referred to possible selective evacuations “that will not be carried out through the Kabul military airport”. “We will see if this can be done through the civilian airport in the capital or through neighboring countries,” he said.
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