More Irish citizens evacuated from Afghanistan

Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney (Brian Lawless/PA)

Sixteen Irish citizens and their families have been evacuated from Afghanistan.

Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney confirmed on Thursday that another 16 Irish people, alongside their dependents, had been evacuated from Kabul Airport to Doha, the capital of Qatar.

The evacuation took place on Wednesday night.

On Twitter, Mr Coveney said: “We are assisting them on their onward journey home to Ireland.”

Pleased to confirm that a further 16 Irish citizens & dependents were safely evacuated from Kabul Airport to Doha last night. We are assisting them on their onward journey home to Ireland. With continued thanks to @MofaQatar_EN and @Lolwah_Alkhater for the assistance. @dfatirl

— Simon Coveney (@simoncoveney) October 21, 2021

Mr Coveney thanked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Qatar for the support.

The evacuation is the latest instance of the Irish Government working with Qatar to evacuate citizens.

Earlier this month, 15 citizens and 10 dependents travelled from Kabul to Doha on a specially organised flight with the support of Qatar.

Officials have been working to evacuate Irish citizens in Kabul and Afghanistan, since the collapse of the Afghan government and the takeover by the Taliban in August.