Italy has pulled out about a third of its military contingent in Afghanistan, taking the majority of Afghan staff with them, Defense Minister Lorenzo Guerini has announced
ROME (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th June, 2021) Italy has pulled out about a third of its military contingent in Afghanistan, taking the majority of Afghan staff with them, Defense Minister Lorenzo Guerini has announced.
Speaking at a Thursday briefing in the Senate, Guerini said that "the closure of the mission is not an abandonment of the camp, but the commitment is evolving and it is essential that it never fails."
According to the defense minister, 280 of a total of 800 Italian servicemen who were deployed in Afghanistan have already been repatriated and over 70 percent of the vehicles and materials have already been flown out of the Afghan operational theater to Italy.
"In this context, in coordination with the Afghan Command, the opportunity to leave some of the logistical arrangements and materials deemed useful by them to the local armed and security forces was also evaluated," Guerini said.
He added that 228 Afghan staff and their families have expressed a desire to move to Italy, provided that they have satisfied all the requirements. According to the defense minister, 224 of such "collaborators" are already in Italy.
Meanwhile the United States has pulled more than half of its contingent from Afghanistan and vowed to finalize the withdrawal by September 11, 2021.
