Washington:
The United States will evacuate thousands of Afghan interpreters and other individuals who helped US forces in the nation beginning in late July, a senior administration official stated Wednesday.
“At President Biden’s direction, the United States is launching Operation Allies Refuge to support relocation flights for interested and eligible Afghan nationals and their families who have supported the United States and our partners in Afghanistan,” the official stated.
The interpreters becoming readied for evacuation are these who have currently filed applications beneath the State Department system of Special Immigrant Visas (SIV) for Iraqi and Afghan translators and interpreters who have assisted US forces more than the previous two decades of war.
Many of the Afghan interpreters who worked with US and NATO forces more than the previous two decades worry retaliation by the Taliban, who are looking for to regain manage of the government in Kabul right after the departure of US troops ahead of the finish of August.
Some estimates say there are about 18,000 individuals who would qualify, and who with their households could take the total quantity of evacuees to as several as one hundred,000 individuals.
The US military will be handling the evacuees, who could be initially transported to US bases overseas, Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby stated Tuesday.
Not all of the interpreters have asked to leave, Kirby noted.
The Taliban have killed a quantity of Afghans who have worked for US forces, and some interpreters have stated they have received threats against their households.
Afghan forces continue to battle the Islamist insurgents, who have elevated the expanse of rural places they manage in an offensive that started last year when Washington announced it would withdraw all troops this year.
“The United States remains confident that Afghanistan’s Armed Forces have the tools and capability to defend their country and that the conflict will ultimately have to be resolved at the negotiating table,” the US official stated.
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