US: Afghan evacuee flights halted from two key military bases
By Ellen Knickmeyer, The Associated Press
Sep 10, 03:40 PM
The U.S. has halted all U.S.-bound flights of Afghan evacuees from two main bases overseas for unspecified “health safety concerns,” a move U.S. officials warn will have a severe impact on the evacuation operation, according to a U.S. government document seen Friday by The Associated Press.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection made the decision on the recommendation of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to halt the flights from U.S. bases in Germany and Qatar, according to the document.
It was the latest problem in the Biden administration’s rushed and often violence-plagued evacuation of tens of thousands of Afghans and Americans and other foreigners from Afghanistan, which peaked with a more than two-week military airlift out of the Kabul airport. In that chaos, 13 U.S. troops and scores of Afghans were killed by a suicide bomber at an airport gate. The military evacuation effort shut down Aug. 30, when American troops withdrew. Thousands of Afghan evacuees remain in third-country transit sites, before being moved to the United States or other countries.
https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2021/09/10/us-afghan-evacuee-flights-halted-from-two-key-military-bases/
