Facebook: 'Evacuated Afghan journalists & affiliates from Kabul to Mexico on Sept 1'

Amid the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan since the Taliban's take over last month, social media giant Facebook on Thursday claimed that it assisted in an effort to evacuate its employees, partners and their families from Kabul. It said that apart from its employees, it also helped evacuate several journalists from Kabul to Mexico. A Facebook spokesperson said, "In the process of assisting Facebook employees and close partners leave Afghanistan, we joined an effort to help a group of journalists and their families who were in grave danger," reported ANI quoting Axios news outlet. Meanwhile, Facebook also expressed its gratitude towards the Mexican government for giving refuge to people and also the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for allowing the initial landing. 

Mexican govt confirmed arrival of people from Afghanistan

The Mexican government, in a release, confirmed the arrival of a group of people comprising social media workers, activists, journalists and their families. "This group, the fourth to come to Mexico for humanitarian reasons due to the situation in Afghanistan, is made up of social media workers, activists and independent journalists and their families, including 75 children," a statement read. While, the Mexican government also extended its regards to the government of Egypt and its embassy officials in the UAE, Iran and Egypt for providing crucial assistance in carrying out a smooth evacuation. The release also stated that travel expenses will be borne by civil society organizations and private sponsors. 

India shows concerns over the use of Afghan soil for anti-India acts 

According to Al Jazeera, Qatar's Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said that the country has taken up the matter of reopening the Hamid Karzai International Airport with the Taliban. He also claimed that Turkey will be providing the necessary technical support to restart operations at the Airport. Meanwhile, the Indian envoy in Qatar, on Tuesday, August 31, met Taliban leader Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai and raised concerns over the use of Afghan soil for anti-India acts and terrorism. Also, the Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday in its news briefing reiterated its stance and told the media that currently, India's priority lies in the evacuation of stranded Indians from the war-torn nation.   

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