MADRID: Spanish authorities said Sunday that the country has started a new evacuation operation to extract more Afghans and their families left behind following the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.
Spain's Defense Ministry confirmed to The Associated Press media reports that it is working with the foreign ministry on a new evacuation mission.
The ministry said it would not give any more details in order to protect the mission, but Spanish news agency EFE reported that the plan was get out some 200 people via Pakistan.
Spanish Foreign Affairs Minister José Albares visited both Pakistan and Qatar last month to ask for their assistance in extracting more Afghan workers who had not been included in the first airlifts from Kabul.
Spain successfully evacuated some 2,200 people -- Spaniards and Afghans -- in the frantic days following the takeover of the Taliban in August.