KABUL, Aug 4: About 400 South Korean Christians were flown out of Afghanistan’s capital on Friday following orders to leave after their presence here caused security fears.
The Afghan government arranged special flights to take them from Kabul to Mazar-i-Sharif and Heart, from where they would leave the country by land, a South Korean official said.
“We flew some 400 people either to Mazar or Herat ... we have some left because some of the planes were too small,” he said.
The remainder of 600 who were earlier due to leave on Friday would likely leave on Saturday, he said.
Hundreds more were expected to follow, including some who had flown in from Almaty, Dubai and New Delhi.
The government ordered them out amid fears for their safety, with some clerics complaining that they were preaching Christianity.
Despite repeated warnings from the South Korean government, the group began arriving in Afghanistan over the past few days for what it said was a trip to get to know the country and help with its reconstruction.
The visit, labelled ‘Rejoice Afghanistan,’ was to have culminated in a now-cancelled ‘peace festival’ in Kabul at the weekend to have showcased sporting and cultural events.
The event was being organised by the South Korean-based Institute of Asian Culture and Development. The group insisted the South Koreans were not here to preach.
About 1,500 South Koreans, including 600 children and some with United States and Canadian citizenship, had entered on tourist visas, an organiser said.
About 700 were in the capital and the rest were in other major centres, including Herat, Mazar-i-Sharif and Bamiyan.
Those from Bamiyan were among the group being flown to Mazar and Herat on Friday.-—AFP
