No fewer than 378 Afghans arrived in South Korea on Thursday as part of Seoul’s efforts to evacuate local co-workers of the country’s embassy and other facilities in the war-torn nation after the Taliban’s seizure of power.

A KC-330 tanker transport aircraft carrying the evacuees landed at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, at 4.24 p.m, after departing from the Pakistani capital of Islamabad early in the morning, the foreign ministry said.

Of a total of 391 people to be airlifted, 378 were on board, while the 13 others are expected to depart for South Korea on a separate military plane, according to officials at the foreign and defense ministries.

“Of course, we tried to get everyone on board, but it was difficult given the aircraft status and other circumstances,’’ a foreign ministry official said on condition of anonymity.

“Thirteen people, or three families, remain in Islamabad, and the 378 others to arrive on the first plane.’’

About half, or some 180, of the total evacuees were under the age of 10, including 100 infants, a defense ministry official said, adding that the evacuees comprised 76 families.

The evacuees were medical professionals, vocational trainers, IT experts and interpreters who worked for Korea’s embassy, now-closed hospitals and a job training centre that were run by the country’s overseas aid institution, KOICA.

The evacuees had first been airlifted to Islamabad from Kabul on Monday and Wednesday.

The Afghans would be coming in not as refugees but as “persons of special merit” and be granted short-term visas, which will switch to longer-term ones, allowing them to find jobs.

READ ALSO: Hundreds of Afghans flee to Tajikistan as Taliban advances

Upon arrival, they would be tested for COVID-19 and be placed under quarantine at a government-designated facility in the provincial county of Jincheon, 91 kilometers southeast of Seoul.

They would also undergo screening again to confirm their identities.

The evacuation got under way after Seoul temporarily closed its embassy and evacuated its diplomatic staff to Qatar, as the security conditions worsened amid the ongoing pullout of U.S. troops and the Taliban’s return to power.

Announcing the operation, codenamed Operation Miracle, South Korea has stressed its moral responsibility to help the Afghan people facing serious security risks after the Taliban took over Afghanistan.

After the U.S. started the war on terror in Afghanistan in 2001, South Korea conducted various military and relief operations, including Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) activities from 2010-14.

The PRT offered medical services, aid for agricultural development, and vocational and police training.

“The success of the Operation Miracle was possible thanks to full cooperation from our U.S. ally,’’ the defense ministry said in a release.

The U.S. provided its military aircraft to transport South Korean embassy officials from Qatar to Kabul, and promptly granted prior permission for South Korean military planes’ take-off and landing at the Kabul airport.

“The defense ministry will continue cooperation for the Afghans’ stable resettlement in the country, providing our logistics resources or medical support when necessary,’’ it said. (Yonhap/NAN)

A baby born on board a U.S. military flight during the evacuation mission from Afghanistan has been named after the plane.

The girl was born at the U.S. Ramstein Air Base in Germany and was named Reach after the plane’s call sign, commander of the U.S. forces in Europe, Tod Wolters, said at a Pentagon briefing Wednesday.

The Boeing C-17 planes used by the U.S. air force often use the call sign “Reach” followed by a combination of numbers.

The U.S. Air Mobility Command had tweeted at the weekend that a woman went into labour during the flight from Qatar to Germany and had experienced complications.

Her condition improved after the plane descended in altitude to increase air pressure, which helped to save the mother’s life.

Soldiers helped to deliver the child in the aircraft’s cargo bay upon landing, the command said.

The military has since spoken with the parents, Wolters said.

Read Also: The international dimensions of the fall of Afghanistan

“As you can well imagine, being an Air Force fighter pilot, it’s my dream to watch that young child called Reach grow up and be a U.S. citizen and fly United States Air Force fighters in our Air Force,” Wolters joked.

The German air base was just a transit point for the evacuees from Afghanistan.

At the moment they were generally being flown from there to Dulles International Airport, near Washington DC, and then distributed to U.S. military bases.

Ramstein, near the western German city of Kaiserslautern, was the largest U.S. air base outside the country.

Wolters said it had capacity for up to 12,000, and that together with other German sites and one base each in Italy and Spain, there was capacity for 25,000 evacuees. (dpa/NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

A foreign athlete at the Paralympic Games in Tokyo, Japan has been hospitalised with non-severe symptoms of COVID-19, a Japanese media outlet, Kyodo News, said on Thursday.

It is the first hospitalisation at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, which opened on Tuesday.

Read Also: QATAR 2022 Qualifiers: COVID-19 may stop Britain-based Eagles

Hospitals in Japan treating COVID-19 patients have usually reserved beds for people showing severe symptoms.

The national government and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government appealed on Monday to hospitals in the capital to accept more COVID-19 patients.

Less than 10 per cent of coronavirus patients are hospitalised in Tokyo, and the low level of admissions has added to public frustration with the government’s COVID-19 response. (Reuters/NAN)

Russia says it sees the risk of a civil war in Afghanistan but will not interfere in their case.

Potentially, “there is risk of a renewed civil war in Afghanistan,’’ Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday.

“Of course, no one intends to interfere in these events,’’ Peskov said when asked about possible Russian intervention in the conflict.

But he said the current situation posed “an additional danger and threats.’’

Russia was watching the triumphant advance of the Islamist Taliban in Afghanistan with concern.

READ ALSO: Taliban lessons from Afghanistan

Among other things, it feared that fighters in Central Asia could penetrate into former Soviet territory.

Moscow has long been engaged in negotiations with the Taliban, who took power in Afghanistan just over a week ago.

According to Russia’s state arms export company Rosoboronexport, demand for Russian weapons can increase due to the Afghanistan crisis.

“If there is a need among neighbouring countries or among our partners, we are ready to respond,’’ said Rosoboronexport head Alexander Mikheyev. (dpa/NAN)

Japanese actor Sonny Chiba, who wowed the world with his martial arts skills in more than 100 films, including Kill Bill, has died aged 82.

Chiba, known in Japan as Shinichi Chiba, died in a hospital near Tokyo where he had been treated for Covid-19 since August 8, Tokyo-based Astraia, his management office, said in a statement.

It said he had not been vaccinated.

Chiba rose to stardom in Japan in the 1960s, portraying samurai, fighters and police detectives, the anguished so-called “anti-heroes” trying to survive in a violent world.

He did many of the stunt scenes himself.

His overseas career took off after his 1970s Japanese film The Street Fighter proved popular in the US.

American director Quentin Tarantino listed the work as among his “grindhouse”, or low-budget kitsch cinema, favourites.

Read Also: Ex-Kwara, Kogi MAN chief dies of COVID-19

Tarantino cast Chiba in the role of Hattori Hanzo, a master swordsmith in Kill Bill.

Chiba appeared in the 1991 Hollywood film Aces, directed by John Glen, as well as in Hong Kong movies.

Chiba’s career also got a boost from the global boom in kung fu films, set off by Chinese legend Bruce Lee, although critics say Chiba tended to exhibit a dirtier, thug-like fighting style than Lee.

“A true action legend. Your films are eternal and your energy an inspiration. #SonnyChiba #RIP,” American actor Lewis Tan said on Twitter.

New York-based writer and director Ted Geoghegan called him “the great Sonny Chiba”.

“Watch one of his films today,” Geoghegan tweeted, followed by images of a fist and a broken heart.

Other fans mournfully filled Twitter threads with clips of his movies and photos.

Born in Fukuoka, southwestern Japan, Chiba studied at Nippon Sport Science University and trained in various martial arts, earning a fourth-degree black belt in karate.

Chiba set up Japan Action Club in 1980 to develop a younger generation of actors, including protege Hiroyuki Sanada, who is among Hollywood’s most coveted Japanese actors, landing roles in The Last Samurai and Rush Hour 3.

Chiba is survived by his three children, Juri Manase, Mackenyu Arata and Gordon Maeda, all actors.

 

NEWSNOW

Flag-waving protesters took to the streets of more Afghan cities yesterday as popular opposition to the Taliban spread. A witness said several people were killed when the militants fired on a crowd in Asadabad in the east.

“Our flag, our identity,” a crowd of men and women waving black, red, and green national flags shouted in the capital Kabul, a video clip posted on social media showed, on the day Afghanistan celebrates independence from British control in 1919.

A witness reported gunshots fired near the rally, but they appeared to be armed Taliban shooting in the air.

One woman walked with an Afghan flag wrapped around her shoulders, and those marching chanted “God is greatest”. At some protests elsewhere, media has reported people tearing down the white flag of the Taliban.

A Taliban spokesman was not immediately available for comment.

Some of the demonstrations are small, but, combined with the ongoing scramble by thousands of people to get to Kabul airport and flee the country, they underline the challenge the Taliban face to govern the country.

The Islamist militant movement conquered Afghanistan at lightning speed as foreign troops withdrew, surprising even its leaders and leaving them to fill a power vacuum in many places.

Since seizing Kabul on Sunday, the Taliban have presented a more moderate face to the world, saying they want peace, will not take revenge against old enemies, and will respect the rights of women within the framework of Islamic law.

During their previous rule from 1996-2001, they severely restricted women’s rights, staged public executions, and blew up ancient Buddhist statues.

The confirmed death toll from a 7.2 magnitude earthquake that struck Haiti on Saturday has risen to 2,189, the country’s civil defence agency reported.

The agency in a tweet said the number of people injured in the earthquake rose to over 12,200, while 332 people were still missing.

The agency said four days after the quake, many survivors were still waiting for urgently needed support.

“There is a serious problem with the distribution of aid,” wrote journalist Nancy Roc on Twitter on Wednesday.

Media, Les Cayes and Jeremie said so far, aid is only reaching the two largest towns in the affected area in the south-west of the Caribbean nation.

Read Also: Police arrest alleged mastermind of Haiti president’s murder

The newspaper Le Nouvelliste reported that smaller communities were being neglected, with calls for help to the national authorities going unanswered.

The paper cited Jerry Chandler, the head of the civil defence agency, as saying that the passage of tropical storm Grace through the region and the resulting bad weather had made the distribution of aid more difficult.

According to reports on social media, many places continued to lack the most basic necessities, food, medicine and tents. (dpa/NAN) (www.nannews.ng )

Downing Street said the Government will be encouraging international partners to emulate ‘one of the most generous asylum schemes in British history’.

It was reported, help for Afghan interpreters who had supported British troops was delayed because Dominic Raab was on holiday in Crete and unable to make a phone call.

The UK is launching a diplomatic push to encourage allies to join it in offering to take in Afghan refugees fleeing the Taliban regime.

The UK Government has announced Britain will take up to 20,000 people wanting to exit Afghanistan as part of its resettlement scheme, with 5000 due to be accepted in the next 12 months.

Downing Street said the Government will be encouraging international partners to emulate “one of the most generous asylum schemes in British history” – but Labour said the offer was not bold enough.

Foreign secretary Dominic Raab is due to speak with fellow G7 ministers on Thursday to discuss international co-operation before leaders of the group – which, as well as the UK, includes the US, Canada, Japan, Germany, France and Italy – hold a virtual meeting next week.

The Cabinet minister faced further awkward headlines as it was reported help for Afghan interpreters who had supported British troops was delayed because Raab was on holiday in Crete and unable to make a phone call.

The Daily Mail said Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office officials suggested Raab call Afghan foreign minister Hanif Atmar on Friday – two days before the Taliban marched on Kabul – only for him to be “unavailable” while on holiday.

The paper claimed the Afghan foreign ministry then refused to arrange a call with a junior minister, pushing it back to the next day.

Read Also: US troops may stay longer in Afghanistan – Biden

The Foreign Office said: “The Foreign Secretary was engaged on a range of other calls and this one was delegated to another minister.”

Nick Thomas-Symonds, Labour’s shadow home secretary, said on Twitter Mr Raab’s reported actions were a “dereliction of duty”.

He added: “Failing to make a call has put the lives of brave interpreters at risk, after they served so bravely with our military. Utterly shameful.”

The decision of the Prime Minister, who is said to have gone to Somerset, and Raab to take holiday while the Taliban advanced came under scrutiny during a lively Commons debate on Wednesday as Parliament was recalled from its summer break for MPs and peers to debate the Afghanistan situation.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer criticised the pair as he told MPs: “You cannot co-ordinate an international response from the beach.”

Downing Street said the Prime Minister would be turning his attention to international efforts to support the Afghan people, including the emerging refugee crisis.

A No 10 spokeswoman said: “We are now asking our international partners to match the UK’s commitments and work with us to offer a lifeline to Afghanistan’s most vulnerable people.”

However, shadow foreign secretary Lisa Nandy was critical of the Government’s offer during an appearance on the BBC’s Question Time.

The senior Labour MP said it was “absolutely clear that 5000 is too small a number over the next 12 months” and called for a “more generous offer” to be made.

The refugee debate comes after No 10 already announced an increase in humanitarian aid for Afghanistan, doubling it to £286m.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman denied that the money would be given to the Taliban, telling reporters it would be distributed in conjunction with the United Nations (UN) and other NGOs (non-governmental organisations).

Johnson and US President Joe Biden both came in for heavy criticism during the emergency debate in Parliament. Newsnow