Australia Concedes Help Won’t Reach Some Former Afghan Staff

SYDNEY - Australia is sending troops and aircraft to Kabul on a rescue mission to evacuate its citizens and Afghans who worked alongside its military during the decades-long war.  

About 600 people will be flown out of Kabul if Australia’s rescue mission goes as planned, including up to 400 local employees. Reports Wednesday have said that an Australian military transport aircraft has landed in the Afghanistan capital, Kabul, and then departed for a base in the Middle East.  However, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has conceded that Canberra won’t be able to help all Afghans who worked with and supported Australian troops, in the wake of the Taliban’s return to power.   “I want you to know that we will continue to do everything we can for those who have stood with us, as we have to this day. But I want to talk openly to veterans that despite our best efforts, I know that support won’t reach all that it should. On the ground events have overtaken many efforts, we wish it were different,” Morrison said.