Some 10 Afghans — local staff at Japan's agencies in Afghanistan or their family members — have left the country and entered neighboring Pakistan by land on their own, multiple diplomatic sources said Friday.
The Afghans, who were among about 500 evacuation-seekers left in the war-torn country as the Self-Defense Forces dispatched to Kabul airport for an evacuation mission were ordered to withdraw on Aug. 31, will head for Japan on Sunday at the earliest, the sources said.
Japan had evacuated just one Japanese and 14 Afghans at the request of the United States after the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in mid-August after 20 years of warfare.