Chancellor Angela Merkel speaks during a press conference at a meeting with economic and financial organizations in Berlin at the Federal Chancellery on August 26th (Clemens Bilan – Pool / Getty Images)
Chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday that those who do not yet have access to evacuation flights from Kabul will not be forgotten, adding that the German Foreign Ministry is still in negotiations with the Taliban.
“We know that the time window is closing. Tens of thousands of people have been saved, but I want to say again today: We will not forget the people who were not saved by the Airlift. Rather, we will do everything we can to enable them to be evacuated, ”said Merkel.
“We are in negotiations with the Taliban, which are led by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, especially the Ambassador” [Markus] Potzel, and there will be international coordination on how to proceed, ”she added.
During a press conference in Berlin, Merkel spoke about the developing situation in Kabul after explosions at Hamid Karzai International Airport and described the incident as a “malicious and heinous attack”.
“There have been warnings in the last few days that it has actually happened, which is of course terrible news,” said Merkel.
“We see with this attack this afternoon that the risk is immense and that this is a very high pressure situation where people are trying to evacuate people and keep the airlift,” she added.