Former army ranger urges Government to send elite force to get Irish citizens out of Afghanistan

Afghan people climb atop a plane as they wait at the Kabul airport in Kabul on Monday, as thousands of people mobbed the city's airport trying to flee the Taliban's feared hardline brand of Islamist rule. Picture: Wakil Kohsar / AFP via Getty Images

Ireland’s elite special forces should be deployed to Kabul airport to coordinate the evacuation of 33 Irish citizens, including eight children, trapped there.

A former officer in the Army Ranger Wing, Kildare South TD Cathal Berry, said that without a physical presence in Afghanistan, it was very difficult to organise any such mission.

Irish diplomatic efforts are being run from the embassy in Abu Dhabi, some 2,000 km from Afghanistan.

Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney told Newstalk on Wednesday that the Government was working closely with its EU partners and the UK to secure places on military flights once Kabul airport was secured.

Dr Cathal Berry is now an independent TD. He is a former second-in-command of the Irish Army Ranger Wing, pictured here on deployment with EUFOR as part of a mission in Chad. Picture: Signal magazine.

The process of getting the people out was under way, he said, but that Ireland was relying on the US for safe passage for them through Kabul airport. The process could take days, he said.

But Mr Berry said: “The big issue with evacuation is trying to coordinate from 2,000 miles away in Abu Dhabi. You can’t do that. We have no State presence on the runway in Kabul.” 

He said Mr Coveney, who is also Minister for Defence, could order a small team from the Army Ranger Wing, comprising around 12 members, to be sent to Kabul, along with a department official with all the contact details of Irish citizens.

The Army Ranger Wing could be mobilised in an hour and be at Baldonnel airport, he said. 

He said authorities here could liaise with the military attaché at the British embassy in Dublin and arrange for passage to Kabul.

He said the team could fly in an Air Corps CASA plane to the RAF transport hub in Brize Norton and secure a place on the flight to Kabul. He said the Army Ranger Wing had "excellent relations" with UK special forces.

Cathal Berry, TD and former army ranger, has urged the Government to send special forces to Afghanistan to coordinate the evacuation of Irish citizens. File picture: Michael Donnelly

He said there was a window of 13 days before the formal drawdown of US forces on August 31.

“This would be a short mission to coordinate the evacuation of all 33 citizens and provide security at the airport.” 

He said the Army Ranger Wing could use part of a hanger for a base and had satellite phones for communication.

He said the unit conducted a similar operation in 2011, when they evacuated Irish citizens from Libya, using Malta as a base.

Mr Berry said the department official could organise a rally point for the Irish citizens at the airport.

He said he believed Irish citizens would travel to the airport “if they know it is secure”, which it isn’t yet.