Canada halts Afghanistan evacuations as deadline looms

Canada has ended its evacuations from Afghanistan as the clock ticks down on dramatic Western efforts to help people flee the Taliban takeover ahead of a full American withdrawal

TORONTO -- Canada has ended evacuations from Kabul's airport, a Canadian general said Thursday, as the clock ticks down on dramatic Western efforts to help people flee the Taliban takeover ahead of a full American withdrawal. General Wayne Eyre, the country's acting Chief of Defense Staff, said the last evacuation plane has left and the vast majority of Canadian personnel are gone. Eyre said allied countries have to leave before the Americans can wrap up their mission. Canadian military flights evacuated about 3,700 people. “We stayed in Afghanistan for as long as we could. We were amongst the last to cease evacuation operations. We wish we could have stayed longer and rescued everyone who was so desperate to leave. That we could not is truly heartbreaking, but the circumstances on the ground rapidly deteriorated,” Eyre said. U.S. President Joe Biden has said he is sticking to his Aug. 31 deadline for completing the U.S. pullout as the Taliban insisted he must, ramping up pressure on the already risky airlift from Kabul to get out as many people as possible in the coming days.