The European Union (EU) and Asian Development Bank (ADB) have sought help from Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to evacuate their employees from Afghanistan.
On humanitarian grounds, the EU Ambassador to Pakistan Androulla Kaminara has asked in a letter to PIA Chief Executive Officer Arshad Malik and Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan to make available an exceptional aircraft for evacuation of members of an EU delegation and their dependents stranded in Kabul.
In the letter, it was written that evacuation list has been made in which 251 people in the priority and also the evacuation of 420 persons in envisaged. Ms Kaminara said that the final destination of all the persons will be in European Union they had already secured the commitment of EU members. She said that they need a flight from Kabul to Islamabad and they will further transit to Europe through another aircraft which would be made available by the EU.
She further said that the members would stay some days in Islamabad. For the evacuation of their staff of The Asian Development Bank had also written a letter to PIA Chief Executive Officer. The evacuation would include 290 passengers of which 162 would be Asian Development Bank staff and their families and the rest would be Filipino nationals stranded in Afghanistan.
According to sources PIA is planning to operate three special flights to Kabul on Monday on the request for evacuation of foreigners and their dependents.