Spain also ended its evacuation from Afghanistan

After the last Spanish flight from Kabul landed in Dubai, Defense Minister Margarita Robles said:

– We know we didn’t have time to bring us all. We will continue to work to get them out. But it should be done in another way, and not through the airport. We promise not to forget them.

The people Robles is referring to are believed to be the hundreds with their families. A source at the Spanish Foreign Ministry told DN that Madrid is in contact with the governments of Iran and Pakistan in the hope of being able to evacuate the remaining Afghans through these countries with the right to Spanish protection.

More than a hundred Spaniards, soldiers and civilians lost their lives during the twenty-year participation of Spain in the NATO operation in Afghanistan ISAF, which was established at the initiative of the United Nations. Spain’s role has been much debated, but neither right-wing nor left-wing governments have attempted to extricate the country from ISAF power. However, a deep ideological divide regarding the effort runs through the coalition of the Spanish left today.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Defense Minister – both from the Socialist Socialist Party – put Taliban extremism and women’s oppression at the center of their statements during the crisis. On the contrary, the radical left wing Podemos portrayed the United States as the culprit in the drama. The Minister for Gender Equality, Irene Montero, blamed the US military industrial establishment for the suffering in Afghanistan.

The “government body” El País, the country’s largest daily newspaper, which has been moving rapidly to the left in recent years, sparked indignation that day with a picture of Afghan girls in mini skirts. Commenting on the photo, taken in the 70s, it was claimed that such clothes create Islamophobia. El País quickly withdrew the feature. But a longer article in the newspaper claims that images of Afghan women dressed in Western clothes go to “alt-right” affairs.