Canada ends evacuation from Afghanistan

OTTAWA – The acting chief of the defence staff says the Canadian mission in Kabul has ended and the vast majority of Canadian personnel left the airport about eight hours ago.

Gen. Wayne Eyre says the Canadians were among the last to leave.

He says Canada evacuated roughly 3,700 people from Afghanistan, which fell to the Taliban earlier this month.

Eyre says the airport was under constant threat of attack and Canada and its allies acted admirably.

He says they all wish they could have stayed longer and evacuated more people, and the fact they could not was “truly heartbreaking.”

He says Canadian personnel will have to reflect on whether all the efforts expended in Afghanistan were worth it, but that Canadians made a difference in thousands of lives.

(The Canadian Press)