After the stopover in Kuwait city, the last flight of the Air Force for the humanitarian airlift between Afghanistan and Italy landed at 8.04 at Fiumicino airport. The arrival of the C-130 was greeted by the Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio.
The “Aquila Omnia” operation, which began in August 15th, ends with the arrival of this flight. The aircraft brings another 110 people back to Italy, including 58 Afghans. The ambassador is also on board Stefano Pontecorvo with the NATO staff, the consul Tommaso Claudi – the diplomat of the photo-symbol of this dramatic emergency – and the Tuscania carabinieri who were still there.
Afghanistan, the Italian diplomat Claudi: “We are a team, we leave when the job is finished”
by our correspondent Giuliano Foschini
“We are the first EU country for evacuated Afghan citizens – said Di Maio at Terminal 5 in Fiumicino – and for this I also want to thank our Intelligence and all the women and men of the Ministry of Defense for the great service they provided to the country these days “. And he added: “The first phase ends, phase 1, but it is useless to hide that now the most difficult one begins: there are many Afghan citizens who are still waiting to be evacuated. We can no longer do it with air bridges as we did in these. days, but we are ready with the United Nations and with the neighboring countries of Afghanistan to work to ensure that these people who have collaborated with us these 20 years have the same chance that the 5 thousand Afghan citizens we evacuated in these days”.
5 thousand people rescued
In fact, the budget of the operation to secure Italian citizens and Afghan civilians exceeds 5,000 units, more than that done by Germany and France. “5,011 people were evacuated, of which 4,890 Afghans thanks to the Aquila Omnia mission – announces the Minister of Defense, Lorenzo Guerini.
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Among them 1,301 women and 1,453 children “. According to the minister, the Italian Armed Forces” with this operation, very delicate and complex from the very beginning, they have done an exceptional job guaranteeing the airlift which, after the worsening of the political crisis and social in Afghanistan, has brought to Italy a number of people much higher than initially expected “.
Il Covi: “The twenty-year commitment of the armed forces in Afghanistan ends”
Satisfaction was also expressed by Luciano Portolano, Commander of the Operational Command of Vertice Interforze (Covi), the structure that managed this complex activity. “We did our best”, he says after another C-130J aircraft took off yesterday at 18.35, with which the Joint Evacuation Task Force (JETF), that is to say that handful of soldiers that since 13 August has also left Afghanistan they managed the evacuation operations on the ground and will return to Italy early next week. “The twenty-year commitment of the armed forces in Afghanistan ends with today and my thoughts go to the 54 dead and their families, the 723 wounded and the victims of terrorist acts,” said Portolano, a veteran of Afghanistan.
The assistance machine
Once the return operations have been completed, the aid and assistance machine for refugees who have arrived in Italy continues. In Florence, the Istituto degli Innocenti, an institution that has defended the rights of children for six centuries, has made available facilities for mothers and children who have fled from Kabul. Liguria is gearing up to accommodate up to 350 people while the Campania Region is currently hosting 126 refugees. Women, children “who lack everything, they came only with their bodies” says the governor of Campania, Vincenzo De Luca.
The vaccination campaign for those returning from Afghanistan is underway
In the meantime, the vaccination campaign started on Thursday with the first thousand doses administered in Lazio. Today, a hub dedicated to Afghan citizens has also been set up in Abruzzo.
About 2,000 people will be transferred to Avezzano to the Emergency Operations Center of the Italian Red Cross which today also launched a national fundraiser. Arrivals started on Thursday evening and will continue over the next few days.
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