TOKYO: Ten Afghans who have evacuated to Pakistan after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan last month will head for Japan as early as Sunday, Japanese government officials said Saturday.

The 10 Afghans are two workers of the Japan International Cooperation Agency and their family members, and are among people covered by the Japanese government’s evacuation mission related to the Afghan crisis.

They left the Afghan capital of Kabul in mid-August and reached Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, by land on their own, according to the officials.

In late August, the government dispatched Self-Defense Forces aircraft to evacuate a maximum of 500 people in Afghanistan, including Japanese nationals and local workers at the Japanese Embassy in Kabul. However, Japan was only able to rescue one Japanese national and 14 Afghans, due to suicide bomb attacks near Kabul’s airport.

Japan will continue negotiations with the Taliban to evacuate those remaining in Afghanistan.

JIJI Press