Uzbekistan ready to help Germany with Afghanistan: German Foreign Minister

Shortly after Germany withdrew evacuation aid from Afghanistan, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas secured Uzbekistan's support needed for further extractions. Speaking during his four-day trip to Central Asia, Pakistan, and the Middle East, Maas informed that Uzbekistan has agreed to open borders to intake refugees and provide temporary humanitarian support. Maas, on August 30, mentioned that his prime agenda is to remove leftover German nationals, local Afghan staff and threatened citizens from the war-torn country.

"Uzbekistan is prepared to help us with this group of people," German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said at a press conference.

As a part of the large-scale migrant rescue operation, Germany has planned to take in another 40,000 people from Afghanistan. The decision is subjected to the availability of outbound planes after the US pullout on August 31. Germany had urged the Uzbekistan government to allow Afghan asylum seekers access to its land borders, to which it agreed. Sharing the news, Maas informed that Uzbekistan is willing to provide the required support to "this group of people." However, the decision on the refugee movement from Uzbekistan to Germany is still a subject of negotiations, Maas informed through a tweet.

Foreign Minister Heiko Maas' four-day trip

The German Foreign Minister is at his second stop, after Turkey, to gather support for the recovery of stranded nationals and asylum seekers. During his stop at Turkey, Maas promised "economic and humanitarian assistance" to countries sharing land borders with Afghanistan provided that ensure safe retrieval of the refugees. For his next stop, Maas is scheduled to stop at Tajikistan on August 30, followed by the Pakistani capital Islamabad. He is supposed to end his four-day trip to Qatar, where he will indulge in further conversations with Taliban representatives concerning evacuations post-US exit.

German to not take part in discussions with Taliban over this particular group

As per a dpa report, Germany has refrained from discussions concerning the evacuation of Afghans who supported Germany's Bundeswehr. However, diplomats will remain in touch with the Taliban in Qatar. Meanwhile, Germany initiated direct contact with the German nationals who are left behind in Afghanistan, for an "organised departure" from the troubled nation. Notably, Germany withdrew evacuation flights from Afghanistan on August 27. Before calling off the evacuation mission on Thursday, the German military extricated over 4,000 Afghans and 500 German nationals out of the war-ridden country. Similarly, Sweden has managed to recover about 1,100 citizens, including first nationals, local hires, journalists, and European Union employees from the Taliban-captured nation.

(With inputs from AP)

(Image: AP)