Armed Forces conduct second evacuation flight from Afghanistan in extremely demanding conditions, 28 people are safe in Slovakia thanks to their capabilities

The Slovak Armed Forces have employed the capabilities of the SVK Special Operations Forces and the Transport Wing Kuchyňa to conduct an evacuation flight from Afghanistan for another group of evacuees with links to Slovakia. As part of the evacuation operation conducted under extremely challenging conditions in this probably most dangerous part of the world today, members of the SVK Special Operations Forces managed to find, escort and get 28 civilians out of the place.

Slovakia was one of the last countries to evacuate people from Afghanistan on the day when the last Allied soldier left Kabul Airport, Prime Minister Eduard Heger, Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď, and Foreign and European Affairs Minister Ivan Korčok announced at a press conference today.

Prime Minister Eduard Heger called the evacuation operation even more successful than the first one, saying: “I am hugely proud of the Slovak military personnel for displaying immense courage. They went to a high risk area and, as you know, they had to remain at the airport for two days and operate out of there in very demanding conditions.” He thanked Ministers Naď and Korčok and their teams, SVK Ambassador to NATO Peter Bátor, and our allies, especially the United States of America, for their cooperation in the evacuation process and the latter for securing the perimeter of the airport.

Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď said: “This time I must say we worked a huge miracle rather than a small one.” He took great pride in the professionalism of all service personnel involved in the evacuation operation, as well as expressing his appreciation for the SVK Government's pro-active approach and the invaluable assistance of the Foreign and European Affairs Ministry whose diplomats had put in efforts above and beyond the scope of expected options. The Minister continued: “We were looking for a way to help people in Afghanistan at a time when others were leaving the country or announced the end of their evacuation flights, and we made it. Together we were successful in taking the people who needed our help and who were in danger of losing their lives through two Taliban checkpoints. Situations like these prove how important the Slovak Armed Forces are, because with all due respect no one else except for the Armed Forces and a special intervention team is capable of conducting such an operation.” He emphasised that during the operation our military personnel had come into direct contact with Taliban fighters.

At the press conference, Foreign and European Affairs Minister Ivan Korčok provided information on the evacuees – altogether there were 28 evacuees with links to Slovakia, including 6 people with a residence permit in Slovakia and 11 spouses and 11 children of those with a residence permit in Slovakia. Having passed the security checks, they currently find themselves in quarantine at the Asylum Seekers Reception Centre in Humenné and are going through the regular in-country asylum process.

The operation to bring the people out of Afghanistan began in the evening hours of Thursday 26 August 2021 and took about 80 hours to complete. As part of the evacuation effort, airmen of the SVK Air Force clocked 35 flying hours and covered over 17,000km. Due to the seat capacity limits, two aircraft were used to evacuate them. While 14 evacuees were flown into Slovakia by a SVK Air Force transport aircraft, another 14 evacuees were flown by a US aircraft into a European country where they were picked up and taken by the SVK Armed Forces to Slovakia.