Ten American bases mobilized in Afghanistan evacuation operations – archyworldys

After the rush, chaos. Long feared, the jihadist threat has taken a bloody turn in the last evacuation operations in Afghanistan. Four days before the total withdrawal of American forces from Kabul, scheduled for August 31, the departures of civilians are coming to an end against a backdrop of security tensions and attacks.

The rate of flights exfiltrating Afghans and Westerners seeking to flee the Afghan capital, now controlled by the Taliban, had nevertheless accelerated considerably in recent days. Within twelve hours, Thursday, August 26, some 7,500 people were evacuated from Kabul airport, Washington said.

“The result of fourteen US military flights which carried around 5,100 evacuees, and thirty-nine coalition flights with 2,400 people”, argued the American authorities, without specifying whether departures could have been organized after the double suicide attack claimed by the Islamic State-K (EI-K), the regional branch of the jihadist organization, near the airport. Several dozen Afghan civilians and thirteen American soldiers were killed, according to a provisional toll.

“One plane every 39 minutes”

Earlier in the day Thursday, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki opposed the logistical effort and the mobilization of American air assets devoted to the evacuation of Afghan and Western citizens – described as “One of the greatest airlifts in world history” – criticism of a hasty departure against a background of despair. “A plane takes off every 39 minutes”, she added.

No less stingy with superlatives, General Stephen R. Lyons, head of the US Transportation Command, on Tuesday depicted the ongoing operation as a “Herculean effort underlining the United States’ commitment to [leurs] Afghan allies by giving them a new chance for a better life and a more secure future ”.

Since August 14, more than 95,000 people have left Afghan soil, which corresponds to more than 104,000 departures since the end of July, provided by the US military and its NATO allies. Most of these people were transported to what the American authorities call “Temporary shelters” : a network of ten military installations in Europe and the Middle East where exiles are grouped together while awaiting relocation to the United States or to countries which will be ready to welcome them.

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