By AMANE SUGAWARA/ Staff Writer
August 17, 2021 at 17:45 JST
Hundreds of people run alongside a U.S. Air Force C-17 transport plane as it moves down a runway of the international airport in Kabul on Aug.16. (Verified UGC via AP)
Twelve staff members of the Japanese Embassy in Kabul have arrived in the United Arab Emirates after fleeing the Taliban-controlled Afghanistan capital, the Foreign Ministry said on Aug. 17.
The ministry said the 12 Japanese nationals boarded a military plane of a close ally of Japan, and the aircraft has landed in Dubai.
The embassy in Kabul was shut down on Aug. 15, but the closure is “a temporary measure based on the assumption that (the staff members) will return,” a top official of the ministry said.
“Whether they can return or not depends on future circumstances,” the official added.
The embassy’s operations will continue at a temporary office set up in Istanbul, the ministry said.
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