Evac Flight Brings 200 Afghans to US   07/30 06:22

   

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- The first flight evacuating Afghans who worked alongside 
Americans in Afghanistan brought more than 200 people, including scores of 
children and babies in arms, to resettlement in the United States on Friday, 
and President Joe Biden welcomed them home.

   The evacuation flights, bringing out former interpreters and others who fear 
retaliation from Afghanistan's Taliban for having worked with American 
servicemembers and civilians, highlight American uncertainty about how 
Afghanistan's government and military will fare after the last U.S. combat 
forces leave that country in the coming weeks.

   Family members are accompanying the interpreters, translators and others on 
the flights out.

   The commercial airliner carrying the 221 Afghans in the special visa 
program, including 57 children and 15 babies, according to an internal U.S. 
government document obtained by The Associated Press, touched down in Dulles, 
Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C., according to the FlightAware tracking 
service.

   Biden called the flight "an important milestone as we continue to fulfill 
our promise to the thousands of Afghan nationals who served 
shoulder-to-shoulder with American troops and diplomats over the last 20 years 
in Afghanistan." He said he wanted to honor the military veterans, diplomats 
and others in the U.S. who have advocated for the Afghans.

   "Most of all," Biden said in a statement, "I want to thank these brave 
Afghans for standing with the United States, and today, I am proud to say to 
them: 'Welcome home.'"

   Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin 
lauded the Afghans for their work alongside Americans and said their arrival 
demonstrates the U.S. government's commitment to them.

   The Biden administration calls the effort Operation Allies Refuge. The 
operation has broad backing from Republican and Democratic lawmakers and from 
veterans groups. Supporters cite repeated instances of Taliban forces targeting 
Afghans who worked with Americans or with the Afghan government.

   Congress on Thursday overwhelmingly approved legislation that would allow an 
additional 8,000 visas and $500 million in funding for the Afghan visa program.

   Biden announced earlier this year the U.S. would withdraw all its troops 
from Afghanistan by Sept. 11, honoring a withdrawal agreement struck by former 
President Donald Trump. He later said the U.S. military operation would end on 
Aug. 31, calling it "overdue." Some administration officials have expressed 
surprise at the extent and speed of Taliban gains of territory in the 
countryside since then.

   Biden said that although U.S. troops are leaving Afghanistan, the U.S. will 
keep supporting Afghanistan through security assistance to Afghan forces and 
humanitarian and development aid to the Afghan people.

   The newly arrived Afghan people will join 70,000 others who have resettled 
in the United States since 2008 under the special visa program.

   Subsequent flights are due to bring more of the roughly 700 applicants who 
are farthest along in the process of getting visas, having already won approval 
and cleared security screening.

   The first arrivals were screened for the coronavirus and received vaccines 
if they wanted them, said Tracey Jacobson, the U.S. diplomat running the 
effort. They were expected to stay at Fort Lee, Virginia, for about seven days, 
completing medical exams and other final steps, Jacobson said. Resettlement 
organizations will help them as they travel to communities around the United 
States, with some bound for family members already here, she said.