Afghanistan is hell as Scottish-based charity workers flee the country as Taliban remains in control

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A Scotland-based charity told how humanitarians doing life-saving landmine removal work in Afghanistan fled after Taliban forces retook the country,

The HALO Trust, headquartered in Dumfries, has been working to make the country’s minefields safe from the effects of conflict with the mine action program in Afghanistan.

Their vital work has ensured that nearly 80 percent of registered minefields and battlefields are safe.

Taliban forces have now taken control of the capital, Kabul.

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All commercial flights were suspended from Kabul airport last night as military planes evacuated in an operation compared to the 1975 fall of Saigon in Vietnam.

In a statement on staff safety, The Halo Trust said the staff had safely left the country but now their priority is to support Afghan colleagues.

They said, “We would like to thank everyone who inquired about the safety of all our staff in Afghanistan.

“We can confirm that all our foreigners have now safely left the country. We are currently focused on the safety of our Afghan colleagues.

We hope they can quickly get back to work, and save lives, as they have done in Afghanistan since 1988.”

We told earlier this year how the Halo Trust expressed shock after militants in Afghanistan killed at least 10 humanitarian workers clearing landmines and wounded 16 others at a demining camp.

Halo Trust workers were killed in the attack in Baghlan province of Afghanistan on June 8 around 9.50pm local time.

The organization has worked on the Afghanistan-led project for the past 30 years.

To the west of Kabul they led one of the largest urban clearing operations since World War II allowing the city to rebuild.

In Herat Province they cleared more than 600 minefields, including the lands around the 15th century minarets of the Al-Hussain Madrasah in Bagara.

They also made the land safe for farmers to grow crops in rural areas.

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