Photo/Illutration In this photo provided by the U.S. Marine Corps, civilians prepare to board a plane during an evacuation at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul on Aug. 18. (U.S. Marine Corps via AP)

The government will send Self-Defense Forces’ aircraft to Afghanistan to evacuate remaining Japanese nationals and Afghan staff of the Japanese Embassy and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) amid the deteriorating security situation in the country.

Officials held a National Security Council meeting on Aug. 23 and made the decision on the mission.

Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi issued an order to go, based on the Self-Defense Forces Law, according to Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato, who revealed the development during a news conference the day.

Three transport planes will be dispatched to Kabul, Kato said.

Kato said the U.S. military has assured Japan that the security situation at the airport in Kabul is stable and “takeoffs and landings are under way in a normal manner,” therefore it would be “no problem” to send SDF planes there.

The Japanese Embassy in Afghanistan has been temporarily shut down due to the Taliban’s takeover of the country. On Aug. 17, 12 embassy staffers, all Japanese nationals, fled the country on a British military plane to Dubai.

The embassy’s operations have continued at a temporary office set up in Istanbul.

But several Japanese nationals who work at international organizations and Afghan staff at the embassy and JICA are still in Afghanistan, government sources said.

The government is expected to dispatch three SDF aircraft to rescue them and get them out of the country based on the Self-Defense Forces Law’s Article No. 84.

The article’s fourth paragraph permits the Defense Ministry to transport Japanese nationals working abroad, based on a request from the Foreign Ministry, in an emergency situation abroad, such as a disaster and a tumultuous event. The clause also allows transport of foreign nationals.

“Local staff are also our people,” a source close to the government said.

Both the embassy and JICA are believed to have a staff of several dozen Afghan nationals.

The government must also discuss if it will provide assistance to the families of those staff members and if so, what form it would take.

According to the defense ministry, there have been four instances where an SDF aircraft transported Japanese expats and others.

In 2004 when foreign nationals including Japanese were caught in a hostage situation in Iraq, the SDF transported 10 Japanese nationals to Kuwait.

In 2016 when a terrorist attack occurred in Bangladesh, an aircraft chartered by the Japanese government transported the bodies of Japanese victims and their families among others.

Group of Seven foreign ministers agreed that the issue of evacuating foreign nationals still in Afghanistan and those who wish to flee the country is their biggest challenge during an online meeting on Aug. 19, and that the mission needs to be carried out quickly and safely. 

G-7 leaders are expected to hold an online meeting on Aug. 24 to discuss the Afghanistan situation.

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