Operation Allies Refuge
The Operation Allies Refuge is a continuing United States military operation. Its purpose is for removing in-danger Afghan civilians, applicants of the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) and employees of the Embassy of the United States away from Afghanistan.[1] This operation is happening at the same time as the removal of Americans from Afghanistan and leaving of foreign people and Afghans who are vulnerable.
Operation history
The operation's name was officially given out on 14 July 2021 by Biden administration officials.[2] On 22 July the United States House of Representatives passed the Averting Loss of Life and Injury by Expediting SIVs (ALLIES) Act. This was done to increase the cap for Afghan interpreters. This was also done to speed up the Afghan Special Visa Processes.[3]
On 22 August, President Joe Biden said American troops may remain in Afghanistan beyond August 31. He then announced that more than 28,000 had been removed from Afghanistan from 15 August onward. From July 2021 onward, over 33,000 people were removed out of the country.[4]
Casualties
As of 26 August 2021, at least 94 people were killed at or near the Kabul International Airport as thousands of people tried to forcibly board planes.[5]
At least 103 people were killed and another two-hundred were injured in a suicide bomb attack near the Kabul International Airport on 26 August. This was when evacuations of local and foreign people were in progress.[6] The attacks were performed by Islamic State militants.[7] The dead included sixty-two Afghan civilians, twenty-eight Taliban members and thirteen U.S. service officials. The dead Americans were ten marines, two soldiers and one Navy corpsman.[8]
Operation Allies Refuge Media
Temporary meal service and processing facilities for Afghan special immigrant visa applicants at Fort Lee, Virginia, July 2021
A U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III evacuates 823 fleeing Afghan citizens from Hamid Karzai International Airport on 15 August 2021.
U.S. soldiers and Marines assist with security at an evacuation control checkpoint at Kabul Airport, 19 August
82nd Airborne Division paratroopers carrying supplies for Afghan families at Kabul Airport, 26 August 2021
U.S. soldiers board a C-17 during final departures from Kabul Airport, 30 August 2021.
Afghan refugees resettled per 100K residents after the 2021 Afghan withdrawal and evacuation in each U.S. state and the District of Columbia according to CBS News
References
- ↑ "Biden to Announce the 'Operation Allied Refuge'". Newsweek. Retrieved August 28, 2021.
- ↑ "In Urgent Cable, the United States Embassy Calls on Washington to Evacuate Afghan Staffers Threatened by the Taliban". ABC News. Retrieved August 28, 2021.
- ↑ "The House Votes to Evacuate More Afghan Allies as the United States War Ends". The Associated Press. Retrieved August 28, 2021.
- ↑ "Biden Says United States May Extend the Afghanistan Withdrawal Deadline". NBC News. Retrieved August 28, 2021.
- ↑ "The Kabul Airport Attack Kills Sixty Afghans and Thirteen United States Troops". The Associated Press. Retrieved August 28, 2021.
- ↑ "The United States is on Alert for Further Kabul Attacks". Reuters. Retrieved August 28, 2021.
- ↑ "Civilians and Twelve U.S. Troops Among Dozens Killed". BBC News. Retrieved August 28, 2021.
- ↑ "ISKP Claims Responsibility for the Blast". The Guardian. Retrieved August 28, 2021.