European countries scramble to evacuate staff and locals from Afghanistan
In this photo provided by the French Defense Ministry, French soldiers board a military Airbus A400M to evacuate French citizens from Afghanistan, Monday, Aug.16, 2021 in Orleans, central France.
Following the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban, European countries, including France, Italy, Spain and Poland, are scrambling to evacuate their citizens, and Afghans who worked with them, from the country. US President Joe Biden says he stands “squarely behind” his decision to exit Afghanistan. Ryan Crocker, former US Ambassador to Afghanistan, says he’s shocked by the way the Biden administration pulled the plug. Also, the final Khmer Rouge tribunal began hearings this week. A former leader seeks to overturn his genocide conviction as part of the last chapter in the quest for justice for the more than a million people who died under the brutal regime in the late 1970s.
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