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Keyword: airlifts

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  • Some Afghans evacuated from Kabul struggle to find help in U.S.

    09/09/2021 12:59:07 AM PDT · by blueplum · 14 replies
    Reuters via msn ^ | 07 September 2021 | Merdie Nzanga
    ALEXANDRIA, Va., Sept 7 (Reuters) - After Fahima, 30, stepped off a plane at Dulles international airport in Virginia on Aug. 26th, she asked an immigration official what would happen to her next. He shrugged, she said, and told her to find a lawyer.... ..."I was a little confused," Fahima said through an interpreter. "I didn't know that we had to talk to a lawyer and do all these things by ourselves. I thought the American government was going to take care of this." The next day, Fahima was picked up at a convention center near the airport by her...
  • 'Urgent pleas': Democrats press Biden administration to answer logistical questions for Afghans left behind

    09/07/2021 11:14:40 PM PDT · by blueplum · 7 replies
    Washington Examiner ^ | 07 September 2021 | Joel Gehrke, Foreign Affairs Reporter
    President Joe Biden’s team faces new congressional pressure to provide a detailed plan to assist Americans and U.S. partners stranded in Afghanistan after U.S. officials ended the evacuation operation at Kabul airport last week. “What instructions can we provide to individuals who evacuated to a third country through a private charter flight, and need to undergo processing to come to the United States?” Rep. Ami Bera and House Administration Chair Zoe Lofgren, a pair of California Democrats, wrote in a letter also signed by House Judiciary Chair Jerrold Nadler of New York.... ...That question is one of more than a...
  • Top US diplomat Ross Wilson tests positive for COVID after getting the last evacuation flight out of Kabul after he was one of the first in the Afghanistan embassy to get vaccinated

    09/01/2021 9:24:38 PM PDT · by blueplum · 10 replies
    The Daily Mail ^ | 01 September 2021 | EMILY GOODIN, SENIOR U.S. POLITICAL REPORTER FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
    Ross Wilson, the top U.S. diplomat in Kabul who was on one of the last flights out of Afghanistan, has tested positive for COVID, a new report revealed on Wednesday. Wilson, who was vaccinated, has very mild, cold-like symptoms, sources told Politico. Wilson, who was the charge d'affaires of the U.S. Embassy, spent his final weeks in country working at the Kabul airport to help with the evacuation... ...Only one percent of the Afghan population is fully vaccinated, according to John Hopkins data. ...
  • A small fraction of America's Afghan allies made it out of Afghanistan

    09/01/2021 1:04:54 AM PDT · by blueplum · 3 replies
    NBC ^ | 31 August 2021 | Dan De Luce
    WASHINGTON — More than 120,000 people of all nationalities were evacuated from the Kabul airport as the U.S. military withdrew, but initial figures suggest that only about 8,500 of those who left Afghanistan in recent months were Afghans, according to numbers released by the Biden administration and estimates from advocates. That is a small percentage of the tens of thousands of Afghans who worked for the U.S. government or U.S. organizations and applied for special U.S. visas, and an even smaller percentage of the Afghans eligible to apply.... ... The administration says U.S. and allied aircraft evacuated more than 123,000...
  • U.S. officials prep cargo building at JFK Airport to process, house Afghan refugees: sources

    08/31/2021 1:49:50 AM PDT · by blueplum · 3 replies
    NY Daily News ^ | 30 Aug 2021 | By THOMAS TRACY and CLAYTON GUSE
    A cargo building at JFK Airport on Monday was converted into a processing center for refugees fleeing Afghanistan — and many may end up temporarily living in the building, sources told the Daily News. The airport’s massive Building 87, which normally houses cargo operations and is where Port Authority K-9 cops train with their dogs, will be the first glimpse of America for many of the Afghans arriving at the international airport after fleeing the Taliban...
  • Multiple rockets fired at Kabul airport, intercepted by defense system -U.S. official

    08/29/2021 9:02:52 PM PDT · by blueplum · 17 replies
    Rueters via msn ^ | 29 Aug 2021 | Idrees Ali; Editing by Tom Hogue
    WASHINGTON, Aug 29 (Reuters) - Multiple rockets were fired at Kabul's international airport but were intercepted by a missile defense system, a U.S. official told Reuters citing initial information. The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said as many as 5 rockets were fired, though it was not clear if all were brought down by the defense system. The official said initial reports did not indicate any U.S. casualties...
  • Exhausted British soldiers get last UK flight out of Kabul as Boris claims Britain 'will return' to country - amid strain on relationship with Biden after 150 Brits and 1,000 Afghans were left behind

    08/29/2021 2:48:17 AM PDT · by blueplum · 1 replies
    The Daily Mail ^ | 28 August 2021 | CHRIS JEWERS and ROSS IBBETSON FOR MAILONLINE
    The last remaining British troops have been evacuated from Afghanistan, bringing the UK's two decades of military involvement in the country to a close. Video and pictures from inside military aircraft shared online by The Parachute Regiment and the Ministry of Defence last night showed exhausted British troops leaving Kabul ... In a bid to put a positive gloss on Britain's hasty retreat, the Prime Minister vowed to 'use all the diplomatic and humanitarian tools at our disposal to preserve the gains of the last 20 years'. Government sources insisted Britain's absence from the war-ravaged country was only temporary.... ...Operation...
  • These are the US troops that lost their lives during the terror attack in Kabul

    08/28/2021 1:36:11 AM PDT · by blueplum · 11 replies
    Business Insider ^ | 27 August 2021 | Taiyler Simone Mitchell and Erin Snodgrass
    On Thursday morning, amid the mounting chaos at the Kabul airport, a deadly suicide bombing at a US checkpoint killed at least 170 Afghans and 13 American soldiers in a matter of moments... ..Though the Department of Defense has not yet released an official list of the victims, names of the fallen soldiers began to circulate on Friday as families and lawmakers confirmed their deaths in mournful social media posts and media accounts. The identities of all 13 US service members have not yet been made available to the public. Here is what we know about the victims so far....
  • Evacuations resume after Kabul bombings as toll now over 100

    08/27/2021 2:04:54 AM PDT · by blueplum · 10 replies
    AP via msn ^ | 27 August 2021 | SAYED ZIARMAL HASHEMI, TAMEEM AKHGAR, KATHY GANNON and CARA ANNA
    KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Evacuation flights from Afghanistan resumed with new urgency on Friday, a day after two suicide bombings targeted the thousands of desperate people fleeing the Taliban takeover and killed more than 100. The U.S. says further attempted attacks are expected ahead of the Tuesday deadline... As the call to prayer echoed through Kabul with the whine of departing planes, the anxious crowd outside the airport was as large as ever. In one location, dozens of Taliban members with heavy weapons about 500 meters from the airport were preventing anyone from venturing forward... ... Gen. Frank McKenzie, the...
  • Trump sends condolences to families of US service members killed in Afghanistan as Biden remains silent for hours

    08/26/2021 4:31:16 PM PDT · by blueplum · 26 replies
    Washington Examiner ^ | 26 August 2021 | Matthew Miller, Social Media Producer
    Former President Donald Trump expressed his condolences after Thursday's twin bombings at the airport in Kabul that killed 12 U.S. service members. "Melania and I send our deepest condolences to the families of our brilliant and brave Service Members whose duty to the U.S.A. meant so much to them," Trump wrote in a statement. "Our thoughts are also with the families of the innocent civilians who died today in the savage Kabul attack." "This tragedy should never have been allowed to happen, which makes our grief even deeper and more difficult to understand," he continued.
  • ISIS Takes Credit for Kabul Explosion That Killed US Marines, Taliban Vows to Fight 'Evil' Attackers

    08/26/2021 2:22:24 PM PDT · by blueplum · 38 replies
    Newsweek ^ | 26 August 2021 | Tom O'Connor
    The Islamic State militant group (ISIS) has taken credit through its official news outlet for a deadly blast that killed at least a dozen U.S. military personnel and dozens more Afghans in what was set to be the final days of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. Hours after an explosion near Kabul's Hamid Karzai International Airport killed at least 12 U.S. military personnel, including four Marines, and at least 60 Afghans, ISIS' Amaq News Agency released a statement announcing "around 160 killed and wounded from the American forces and those collaborating with them in a martyrdom attack of the Islamic...
  • CIA, U.S. Troops Conduct Missions Outside Kabul Airport to Extract Americans, Afghan Allies

    08/26/2021 1:48:22 AM PDT · by blueplum · 8 replies
    Wall Street Journal via msn ^ | 25 August 2021 | Gordon Lubold, Warren P. Strobel, Jessica Donati
    ...A congressional source knowledgeable about the evacuation effort said U.S. troops had gone into Kabul on joint missions with other foreign allies, including Britain and France, to designated locations where they had picked up citizens from all those nations, U.S. green-card holders, and Afghans who hold special visas for helping the U.S. military....' The air and ground operations are considered perilous under the current circumstances in the country as the U.S. has begun to assign priority on evacuating Americans over Afghans who are at risk. Those include the many thousands of Afghan interpreters and others who worked for the U.S....
  • Make a run for the border... if you think you can make it there alive: UK tells stranded Afghans NOT to come to the airport as troops begin to pack up and leave thousands behind after Joe Biden's betrayal

    08/26/2021 1:26:11 AM PDT · by blueplum · 12 replies
    The Daily Mail ^ | 25 August 2021 | MARK NICOL and JOHN STEVENS and DAVID WILLIAMS FOR THE DAILY MAIL and JAMES ROBINSON FOR MAILONLINE
    The UK last night told its Afghan allies who are still trying to get out of Afghanistan to head for the border rather than attempt to get into Kabul airport where US and British forces are winding down their operations. As evacuation efforts entered their final hours, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace appeared to signal in a briefing to MPs that there are few places left on British planes. .. ...A US order that Britain must pull out its 1,000 soldiers and officials before the US begins its withdrawal has reduced the time available to process the final claims. US commanders...
  • UK 'will try to keep airport open' in Afghanistan after troops withdraw on August 31

    08/25/2021 3:49:39 AM PDT · by blueplum · 1 replies
    The Mirror ^ | 25 August 2021 | Abigail O'Leary
    The UK is reportedly working to keep an airport open in Afghanistan after troops withdraw on August 31 - meaning commercial flights could continue to take people from the country. It comes after Boris Johnson allied forces would "go on right up to the last moment that we can", and "we're confident we can get thousands more out" following G7 meeting today. But he added: "The situation at the airport is not getting any better,...
  • Taliban announces 'amnesty,' urges women to join government

    08/17/2021 3:31:47 AM PDT · by blueplum · 40 replies
    AP via msn ^ | 17 Aug 2021 | AhMAD SEIR, TAMEEM AKHGAR, KATHY GANNON and JON GAMBRELL, Associated Press
    KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Taliban declared an “amnesty” across Afghanistan and urged women to join their government Tuesday, seeking to convince a wary population that they have changed... ...Overnight, flight-tracking data showed a U.S. military plane taking off for Qatar, home to the U.S. military Central Command's forward headquarters. A British military cargo plane also was flying to Kabul after taking off from Dubai. Other military aircraft remained in the air in the region. The U.S. Embassy in Kabul, now operating from the airport, urged Americans to register online for evacuations but not come to the airport before being...
  • Reserve aircrew airlifts CE teams supporting war on drugs

    04/18/2006 6:17:26 PM PDT · by SandRat · 3 replies · 252+ views
    Air Force Links ^ | Staff Sgt. Shad Eidson
    4/18/2006 - VIEUX FORT, Saint Lucia (AFPN) -- A C-17 Globemaster III aircrew flew civil engineers to this tropical isle as part of ongoing support for the war on drugs. The mission also provided an opportunity for the aircrew to maintain their proficiency. The transport started its circuitous mission April 7 at Charleston Air Force Base, S.C., with a mixed Reserve and active-duty aircrew. “We go everywhere to support the Air Force mission,” said Maj. Mike Phillips, a Reserve pilot with the 300th Airlift Squadron. “We like to support as many active-duty and Reserve units as possible.” The squadron aircrew...