An airplane with Polish soldiers who took part in an evacuation mission of Afghan residents has landed at the Okęcie Military Airport in Warsaw, informed the Ministry of National Defense. It was emphasized that the mission lasted over a week. “Thank you for the mission in Afghanistan, which you have carried out in an exemplary manner,” said the Minister of National Defense Mariusz Blaszczak welcoming Polish soldiers at the airport.
“You undertook a demanding mission, but well, that’s the way it is, these kinds of missions are not easy ones (…) You are well trained, you have the right attitude, high morale, you serve Poland, because this service is a service to Poland – in this way we take care of the security of our homeland far beyond the borders of our country,” he said.
According to an earlier announcement of the Ministry of National Defense, two Hercules with Polish soldiers landed on the tarmac of the Military Airport in Okęcie at around 11 am.
“The Polish Army soldiers who took part in the evacuation mission in Afghanistan have returned to Poland,” was written in the second entry.
To support the evacuation of the Afghan collaborators of Poland and other NATO countries, by the decision of President Andrzej Duda, the Polish Military Contingent consisting of about 100 people went to Afghanistan.
The evacuation was carried out by Polish forces and took place by military planes from Kabul to Uzbekistan, from where the evacuees traveled to Poland in civilian Polish Airlines LOT planes. The first plane with evacuees landed in Warsaw on Wednesday, August 18. In the end, all six Polish citizens who turned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and several hundred Afghan collaborators of Polish services were evacuated. Poland has also evacuated associates of allied countries and international institutions, including staff of the International Monetary Fund.