Norway Sends Police, Special Forces Back to Kabul Amid 'Extremely Demanding' Situation

As the Taliban* declared that all foreign military presence must cease by 31 August, Norwegian forces have been sent back to the war-torn country to assist in the hasty evacuation.

Norwegian police and members of the military’s special forces have been sent back to Afghanistan. The stated goal of the operation is to provide reinforcements and speed up work to evacuate both Norwegian and foreign citizens by the 31 August deadline set by the Taliban.

“The special forces have the competence to contribute under demanding conditions and on short notice,” Lieutenant General Yngve Odlo, chief of the Norwegian defence department’s operative headquarters, told national broadcaster NRK. “This is such a situation. We don’t want to go into detail about what their assignment is, but it has to do with assistance during the evacuation.”

He confirmed that around 20 special commando soldiers have been sent to Kabul after the Taliban declared victory over Afghanistan just over a week ago, calling the situation “extremely demanding”.

Odlo said that around 50 soldiers from Norway’s famed special forces unit known as the Telemark Battalion, have also been sent to Tbilisi, which has functioned as a transit station for aircraft to bring evacuees back to Norway, and wouldn’t rule out that more special forces may be sent. According to Odlo, the soldiers are also setting up a transit reception centre for all those coming from Afghanistan who will be sent on to Norway, which will process both Norwegians and citizens from other countries.

According to Odlo, the special forces “have contact with and are screening the Afghan citizens who will be sent to Norway”, as the number of evacuees is rising following a chaotic week, when many foreign nationals were unable to access Kabul airport, let alone leave the country.

So far, 288 foreign citizens have been brought to Norway, including over 20 unaccompanied children, the government said at a press conference earlier this week.

Earlier, the Taliban declared that all foreign military presence must cease by 31 August. This is the reason why the Norwegian military field hospital is also shutting down. Norway had wanted it to remain operative at least until the year-end, but the Norwegian military would no longer be able to secure it.

As flights with evacuees from Afghanistan keep landing in Oslo, there have been calls for a new evaluation of Norway's 20-year-long mission, among others from the Socialist Left Party. In 2016, a government-appointed commission concluded that Norway didn't achieve much beyond “being a good ally” to NATO and the US.

* The Taliban is a terrorist organisation banned in Russia and other countries