Canada defends Afghanistan evacuation effort

By Barry Ellsworth

TRENTON, Canada (AA) - Canada is doing all it can to evacuate Afghans, despite efforts being hampered by the Taliban, two senior Canadian officials said Sunday.

"We have seen 12 flights out and over 1,100 people evacuated," Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino told CTV News. "That is remarkable work on the part of our armed forces."

Also Sunday, Liberal leader Justin Trudeau -- under Canadian regulations, the title of prime minister is shelved during federal election campaigns -- said he will participate in a virtual meeting of G7 countries Tuesday.

The only topic for discussion is how to handle the Afghan situation as thousands try desperately to board flights out of the county to Canada, the US and Britain before the Taliban take full control. Chaos prevails as those fleeing fear the Taliban’s retribution for helping the allied countries during their tenure in Afghanistan.

Thousands remained outside Kabul airport Sunday as the Taliban restricted entry, sometimes by violence. It is the Taliban forces that are limiting the speed with which people can be evacuated.

"The situation on the ground is volatile, it's precarious," Mendicino told CTV News. "And so we're staying in constant contact with all the people we're trying to help, and we've given full operational discretion to the armed forces to make whatever calls they need to get those people on flights, and as you seen, we've made some progress, but there's more work to do."

Harjit Sajjan, Canada's minister of defense, said at a press conference Sunday that he agrees with Mendicino's assessment.

"The situation on the ground is extremely chaotic and difficult," he said.

Afghan families first arrived by plane in Canada on Aug. 4, but further rescue efforts were thwarted by the Taliban.

Canada as well as the US and UK promised to evacuate Afghans who helped the allies during their two decades of engagement in the country, including drivers, interpreters and cooks and their families.

Trudeau admitted Thursday that it will be "almost impossible" to evacuate as many Afghans as Canada had hoped due to the Taliban blocking access to the airport.