Afghanistan evacuations.Photo: U.S. Army via Getty
As of Wednesday the U.S. had evacuated or helped evacuate more than 82,000 people from Afghanistan since the fall of the country’s government and the Taliban takeover earlier this month, a White House spokesman said.
The updated numbers,shared Wednesday morning, show that approximately 19,000 people were able to get out of Kabul, the Afghanistan capital, in the previous 24 hours.
The White House spokesman, Chris Meagher, said that about 82,300 people had evacuated with U.S. assistance since Aug. 14, the same weekend the Taliban seized power and the national government collapsed amid the planned U.S. military withdrawal.
Several thousand more people successfully left the country in the weeks before that, officials have said.
Also on Wednesday, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that about 4,500 of the 6,000 American citizens believed to be in Afghanistan on Aug. 14 have since evacuated.
After a clumsy start and sharp criticism, the U.S. evacuation of Americans, Afghan allies and refugees out of Kabul has moved quickly.
For example, the White House said this week, in the 24-hour span from Sunday to Monday, 28 U.S. military flights “evacuated approximately 10,400 people from Kabul. In addition, 61 coalition aircraft evacuated approximately 5,900 people.”
Afghanistan evacuations.Taylor Crul/U.S. Air Force via Getty
Meanwhile, theMilwaukee Journal Sentinelreported Sunday that Afghan refugees had begun arriving at Wisconsin’s Fort McCoy.
According to apress release, the new arrivals in Wisconsin are special immigrant visa applicants along with their families and other individuals at risk.
Vulnerable Afghans are being temporarily housed at three military installations in the United States, according to the release: Fort McCoy; Fort Lee, Virginia; and Fort Bliss, Texas.
“We expect these arrivals to continue throughout the day and the coming days,” Task Force McCoy Commander Brig. Gen. Chris Norrie said in the release. “U.S. Northern Command is working to build additional capacity here, at Fort Lee, Fort Bliss, Texas, and potentially other military locations as required.”
Since then the U.S. undertook a final, full-scale withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The Taliban’s takeover led to scenes of chaos and panic at the Kabul airport as the U.S. evacuated personnel along with international allies like the U.K.
On Aug. 16, before the U.S. military regained control, Afghans were seen crowding into the airport, scaling concrete walls and racing across the tarmac as they attempted to board international flights in attempts to escape the country.
In the days since the evacuation ramped up, American military flights have left the country packed in some cases withhundreds of people. In what has become one of the most striking photos to emerge from the fall of the country, more than 800 people were pictured aboard an Air Force C-17 as it left Kabul on Aug. 15.
Defense Onereports thatwhile the plane wasn’t built to hold so many passengers, people boarded via a half-open ramp before the aircraft took off for Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.
President Biden, who has faced heavy criticism for how the evacuation operation has unfolded,told ABC Newslast week that he plans to keep troops in the country as long as necessary, even if it means staying past the previously set withdrawal date that the Taliban has called a “red line.”
Biden said the U.S. will “do everything in our power to get all Americans out and our allies out,” adding, “Americans should understand that we’re gonna try to get it done before Aug. 31. If we don’t, we’ll determine at the time who’s left.”
If you would like to support those in need during the upheaval in Afghanistan, consider:
Donating toUNICEFto aid Afghans in the country or
Donating to theInternational Refugee Assistance Projectto help those fleeing.
source: people.com
