On August 15, 2021, in Afghanistan, President Gani left the country and the Taliban occupied the capital Kabul.
The Biden administration was aiming to withdraw US troops by September 1. The world was confused by the unexpectedly rapid fall of the capital.
At that time, the Biden administration decided to dispatch an army and marine corps of about 5,000 people, including 650 people who had already been dispatched to guard the airport. He protected the airport and the embassy.
He also announced that he would give 3,500 82nd Airborne Divisions a standby mission and send 1,000 to guard Kabul's special visa issuance.
This special visa (SRV) is a special visa for asylum in the United States to protect the Afghan citizens who have supported the U.S. military for the past 20 years from the Taliban after the Biden administration decided to withdraw from the U.S. military immediately. .. As of May, about 20,000 applications were delayed, which was a problem in the United States.
The Taliban also occupied Kabul in the past 1996 and publicly executed the former president. Due to Islamic fundamentalism, entertainment culture was strictly banned, and public executions were carried out on a daily basis to manipulate people's hearts.
For the United States, which values human rights and freedom, it cannot be overlooked to leave behind Americans left behind and local people who have cooperated with the United States for the past 20 years.
In the morning of August 23, the Government of Japan decided to dispatch SDF aircraft and evacuate about 500 local residents, including the number of Japanese, based on Article 84-4 of the Self-Defense Forces Act (transportation of Japanese nationals abroad).
On August 23, the advance team departed, and after the 24th, two C-130s, one C-2, and one government-only aircraft were dispatched.
The C-130 can carry 90 people, and the C-2 can carry 110 people, so considering equipment and materials, 200 people and 100 people are transported by government aircraft, for a total of 2 to 300 people. Isn't it? (No announcement of power in the press.)
Article 84-4 of the Self-Defense Forces Act, which is the basis for dispatch, only allows activities in areas where safety is ensured, and the use of weapons is limited to self-defense and emergency evacuation.
Considering the influx of tens of thousands of refugees and the occurrence of shootings in the surrounding area, it cannot be said that the outside of Kabul Airport is safe and the activities are limited to the inside of the airport. It should be.
The Self-Defense Forces landed at Kabul Airport on August 25, and a terrorist attack by a bomb occurred around the evening of local time on the 26th.
According to NHK's report, it was trying to rent more than 20 buses, convene evacuees and evacuate to the airport, but it was abandoned due to terrorism.
After that, the Afghan evacuation operation will be analyzed.
The image is a map of the area around Kabul Airport.
The white frame is Kabul Airport, the blue dot is the gate, and the main gate from the west, the Abbey Gate where there was a terrorist attack, and the North Gate where the residents rushed in a while ago are the main gates to enter the airport.
It is said that only Abbey Gate and North Gate were open at that time. (There are other gates, but they were closed.)
The image is that about 20 buses gathered around the Japanese embassy and passed through the Taliban gate (red dot).
Considering that the locals are rushing to the airport, it is not difficult to imagine that the information was leaked to people other than the evacuees who were convened. In other words, the meeting place where the bus is scheduled to come should have been pushed by people other than those to be evacuated. This makes it difficult to select the target.
In addition, it is not legally possible for the Self-Defense Forces to operate outside the airport. Therefore, this process had to rely on local people, which may have added to the difficulty. Even if the refugees could be picked up as planned, there were multiple Taliban checks waiting in the middle of the airport. To pass this, a visa or a permit granted to the Taliban was required, and other countries such as the United States may have been negotiating with the Taliban.
I was harassed by being beaten and spit on here (as far as I can see the videos posted on SNS), and it seemed that I couldn't pass through.
After passing these points, you will reach the gate. The area around the gate is crowded with tens of thousands of people. Looking at the SNS video, the US military was sorting around the airport to find the target refugees.
There was a terrorist attack.
According to media reports, more than 100 people were killed or injured, including 13 US military personnel.
It's not hard to imagine that the bus arranged by Japan would have been the target if it was a few hours off.
Japan was lucky this time.
As mentioned above, the time was different from the terrorism. It was not guarding the area around the airport (because the US military was in charge).
On the other hand, when protecting or transporting Japanese people, the US military is not always present. In some cases, the Self-Defense Forces must do it on their own.
Dispatching SDF units to evacuate Japanese people from dangerous areas means endangering the lives of the SDF personnel dispatched.
The Ground Self-Defense Force dispatched this time will be the Central Readiness Regiment. In the event of an emergency, it is a unit that is put in first along with the Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade and the Airborne Brigade. I don't know if all the members were so, but they must have been aware of death to some extent. In order to protect the lives of Japanese nationals, if the SDF personnel are to risk their lives, they should not be dispatched with inadequate legal or inadequate equipment. I would like the government and the Ministry of Defense to seriously consider this.
Anyway, this dispatch should have been a great lesson for the government and the Self-Defense Forces. The following 3 points can be thought of.
(1) A flaw in the law has been revealed.
Both Article 84-3 (Protection of Japanese, etc.) and Article 84-4 (Transportation of Japanese, etc.) of the Self-Defense Forces Law can only be dispatched to places where safety is ensured. Situations in which Japanese people must be protected or transported until the Self-Defense Forces are dispatched are dangerous situations. If it is safe, you can evacuate with a private aircraft. This should cause similar problems in Taiwan and the Korean Peninsula, which may occur in the future. Legal reform is urgent.
(2) In order to transport by air, the ground transportation capacity until the refugees arrive at the airport is important.
If the country did not have the ability to evacuate Japanese people at that time in a crisis, Japan would have no choice but to transport and protect it. For that purpose, it is necessary to have the ability to put in at least one regiment and gather and transport (guard) refugees. In the case of the Self-Defense Forces, it is said that "the use of mission-performing weapons is possible" in the protection of Japanese nationals, but the actual situation is almost the same as in the case of self-defense and emergency evacuation, so mitigation according to the situation is necessary.
③ In addition to ②, airport operation and security capabilities are important if there is no US military.
If the situation is imminent, there is a good chance that all civilians will have to evacuate from the airport and operate the Self-Defense Forces themselves (there is not always a US military). In that case, a certain size of ASDF and GSDF units will be required.
The airport is a high value target. In an imminent situation, it is unknown when missiles will fly and enemy units, including guerrilla units, will attack. Members of the field will be put in a situation where they can die at any time.
We do not know what will trigger a Taiwan emergency or a peninsula emergency. Since the number of refugees is in the tens of thousands, the difficulty and danger are not comparable to those in Afghanistan. It is important to make sure that the lessons of Afghanistan are used and connected to the next.
The video below summarizes the number of evacuation from Afghanistan in each country.
