Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says the Government has identified 53 New Zealanders who are stranded in Afghanistan after the fall of the government to Taliban forces overnight. The Government was also aware of 37 Afghan nationals who had worked alongside the NZDF. The mandate of those deployed to Afghanistan was to assist with evacuating foreign nationals and those Afghan nationals who had assisted the NZDF, Ardern said. Chief of Defence Force Kevin Short said NZDF personnel in Afghanistan would be there to operate aircraft for a number of weeks. Defence Minister Peeni Henare said about 3500 NZ personnel had been deployed to Afghanistan in recent years.

Source: Otago Daily Times August 16, 2021 03:22 UTC