The Great Evacuation

In April 2021, US President Joe Biden announced that US forces would begin their withdrawal from Afghanistan after nearly two decades in the region. Australia has supported US forces’ operations from the very beginning, with ADF personnel first deployed in October 2001 – just weeks after the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Centre.

President Biden set the target to get all allied troops out of by 11 September 2021. However, by early August 2021, the Taliban had successfully regained control of most of the country. Ultimately, the nation’s capital, Kabul, fell on 15 August, as Afghan President Ashard Ghani fled to the United Arab Emirates. President Biden officially declared the US’ war with Afghanistan over on 31 August, and ordered all allied forces to exit the region by this date. (Defence, LACW Jacqueline Forrester)

The Taliban’s capture of Kabul in mid-August sparked scenes of chaos at Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport, and came alongside one of the largest military evacuations in history. Photos and videos released from the region at this time showed confronting and frenzied scenes as thousands of people crowded on Kabul Airport’s runways at the airport in a desperate attempt to flee. Footage showed people clinging to external parts of aircraft, or running alongside taxiing jets as they took to the air.

One striking image released to the public, depicted nearly 650 Afghans piled into a US Air Force C-17 cargo aircraft, after hundreds of people pulled themselves into the plane via the aircraft’s half-open ramp just before take-off. The flight nears the record for the most people ever flown in a Boeing cargo aircraft. Reports suggest the pilots of the aircraft ultimately made the last-minute decision to fly on their route as planned, despite the additional passengers, so the plane took off and soon landed safely in Qatar. A US official said it was one of a number of cargo planes that took off with hundreds of additional people onboard.

In the days immediately after President Ghani fled to the UAE, thousands of people continued to flood Kabul’s airport, which resulted in safety concerns for landing aircraft. Many planned evacuation flights in those few days were unable to land due to such concerns, particularly after reports surfaced of at least five people killed in the chaos. However, within a day the crowds dissipated, and military evacuations continued. (Defence, SGT Glen McCarthy)

On 17 August, just two days after the fall of Kabul, Defence announced that a KC-30A Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) had departed RAAF Base Amberley bound for its operating base in the UAE, as the Australian government began its efforts to evacuate Australian citizens and visa holders from Afghanistan. Defence said that over 250 personnel would be utilitised in the evacuation effort, which was being coordinated with international partners.

At the time of the announcement, Australia was still in the process of negotiating a landing spot at Kabul Airport in Afghanistan’s capital, to rescue the estimated 600 Australian citizens and residents then trapped in the Taliban-controlled country. In light of the chaotic scenes coming out of Kabul Airport, Minister Dutton said called the scenes terrible and said that order had to be restored at the airport before Australia’s personnel could enter. (Defence, SGT Glen McCarthy)

The following day on 18 August, a RAAF C-130J Hercules departed Kabul with the first 26 evacuated Australian citizens and visa-holders onboard. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said that it was the first of many flights to get people out of Kabul over the following days, but warned the process would not be simple. “We will bring out as many people as we can, as quickly and safely as we can,” he said. Sources on the ground said that Australians were told the previous night to travel to Kabul Airport for processing, and that another evacuation flight could soon be scheduled. (Defence, LAC Sam Price)

Within the first five days of evacuation efforts commencing, Defence announced that it had rescued over 1,000 people out of Kabul, far beyond the initial estimates of those requiring help “We are uplifting not just Australians and Afghan visa holders for Australia, but those from the United Kingdom, the United States and New Zealand,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison said. The RAAF used the C-130J Hercules, KC-30A Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) and two C-17A Globemasters to lead the mission. Despite the initial chaotic scenes largely subsiding at Kabul Airport by this time, the Prime Minister continued to describe the evacuation effort as navigating a “very chaotic environment”.

“We continue to … get as many people through as we possibly can in the time we have available, as safely as we can,” PM Morrison said. At this time, there were discussions surrounding US President Biden possibly extending the 31 August evacuation deadline. “We have a long way to go and a lot could still go wrong,” said President Biden, adding that the final stage of the evacuation would be “hard and painful”. (Defence, SGT Glen McCarthy)

After the first week of evacuation efforts, at least eight RAAF and one New Zealand Air Force flight had successfully managed to land at Kabul Airport. By 26 August, over 2,700 people had been evacuated from Afghanistan by the ADF. Despite the success, Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews warned that the situation in the Afghan capital was worsening on an “hourly basis”.

Meanwhile, PM Morrison stated that ADF personnel had been operating as quickly and efficiently as possible, and called the frontline personnel involved the “real heroes” of these efforts. He also said Australia would support the US should it decide to “push out” the 31 August deadline.

Despite earlier suggestions that the US could extend its evacuation deadline, the Taliban repeatedly insisted that 31 August 2021 was a “red line” for US withdrawal. At the time, Taliban forces were allowing evacuations from the nation’s capital to take place without interference, however threatened this could no longer be the case come the start of September. The White House responded to such threats by stating that America will be the one to decide when its troops leave. (Defence, SGT Glen McCarthy)

On 26 August 2021, just days ahead of the planned withdrawal of all allied forces from Kabul, an explosion was reported outside Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport. It occurred in a drainage canal along the road to the airport, described as a choke point with thousands of people filtering through. US officials announced it was the result of a suspected suicide terrorist attack. At least 183 people were killed, including 170 Afghans, and 13 members of the US military.

The week prior to the attack, Defence Minister Peter Dutton warned that the situation in Afghanistan was “dire” and “deteriorating” and said intelligence pointed to a possible attack. “People should not gather at the gates at the airport, that they should move immediately from that area and that they should not be in areas of large gatherings,” he said. Thankfully, all ADF had le Afghanistan just hours before the attack, on its final evacuation flight.

The nine-day evacuation campaign resulted in the rescue of over 4,000 Australian and allied citizens, visa-holders, and refugees. (Defence, SGT Glen McCarthy)

Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, became the first individuals to speak out about their gruelling work evacuating Australians and visa holders from Afghanistan. Major Timothy Glover said his team worked 20-hour days to help get as many people as possible out of Afghanistan before the 31 August deadline. “People would do anything to help their families, including throwing their babies to our soldiers to hold on to while they returned for the rest of their family,” he said.

MAJ Glover was the officer commanding B Company of 1 RAR and said the situation was bigger than anything they were expecting. “We got off the plane late at night and were met by an advanced team which had already been there for a day or so,” MAJ Glover said. “As we walked through the terminal there were hundreds of evacuees lying around waiting to get on a plane. The soldiers were operating for 18 to 20 hours a day every day to get these evacuees processed. The team I was with down at Abbey Gate were pulling people out of some really horrible conditions and our guys showed a lot of resilience under pressure.”

Meanwhile, Private Carl Von Stanke revealed that he was tasked with helping pull people over fences from a dirty, crowded canal to have their documents assessed by Australian officials at checkpoints within the perimeter of the airfield. PTE Von Stanke was previously deployed to Kabul just months earlier and said the airport was unrecognisable. “It was very chaotic,” he said. “There were thousands of people around the airport trying to get in.”

Lance Corporal Aaron Gould said he and other soldiers stayed focused on the task at hand by watching the number of evacuees they had assisted grow each day. “We wanted to get as many people out as we could, so that’s what was driving us forward the whole time,” LCPL Gould said. “For the short amount of time that we were there, I feel like I did more work than I did in four and a half months on my last Afghanistan deployment. It was definitely a lot harder.” (Defence, SGT Glen McCarthy)

All pictures courtesy of Defence.