Jakarta (ANTARA) - Member of the Indonesian House of Representatives' (DPR RI's) Commission I Christina Ariani praised the swift response and effective coordination among ministries, relevant authorities, and the Indonesian embassy for successfully repatriating Indonesians from Afghanistan on an evacuation mission.
"I laud the foreign ministry, commander of the Indonesian air force, Indonesia's embassy in Kabul, and other authorities involved in the successful evacuation mission," Ariani noted in her written statement here, Saturday.
Ariani elaborated that consular duties of the Indonesian Embassy in Kabul would be temporarily performed from Islamabad, Pakistan, while reviewing the day-to-day situation in Afghanistan.
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She called on people in the country to exercise caution and adopt a wait-and-watch approach before deciding on any official stance on Afghanistan.
"Indonesia should wait and observe the current situation in Afghanistan, especially on the transfer of power, before deciding the official stance," Ariani stated.
Earlier, 26 Indonesians were successfully evacuated from Afghanistan after their flight landed safely at Jakarta's Halim Perdanakusuma Airport today at 3:05 a.m. Western Indonesia Time (UTC +7).
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Taking into account the unstable situation in Kabul, especially at the Hamid Karzai International Airport, the Indonesian government decided to dispatch a military aircraft by the air force to evacuate Indonesians from Afghanistan.
The military aircraft, designated for the evacuation, departed for Kabul on August 18, with stopovers in Aceh, Colombo in Sri Lanka, and Islamabad in Pakistan before arriving in Kabul on August 20. The flight was initially planned to arrive in Kabul on August 19, but situational instability led to landing clearance given for the day being revoked.
Through the repatriation mission, 26 Indonesians comprising staff of the Indonesian Embassy in Kabul, five Filipinos, and two Afghans -- a local staff and a spouse of the Indonesian embassy staff -- were successfully evacuated.
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