Fri 30 July 2021:
The first flight carrying Afghans who worked for the US military arrived in America on Friday, President Joe Biden said, the start of an operation to evacuate thousands from possible Taliban retaliation.
“Today is 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,” Biden said in a statement released by the White House.
“These first Afghans are able to come directly to the United States because they have already completed extensive background checks and security screening by the Intelligence Community and the Departments of State and Homeland Security,” he said.
An airliner carrying 221 Afghans, including 57 children and 15 babies, according to the internal document obtained by The Associated Press, touched down at the airport early on Friday morning.
Many Afghans who worked with the US-led NATO forces fear reprisals from the Taliban with US troops scheduled to depart by the end of August, nearly 20 years after they first arrived.
The White House confirmed that the Afghans were the first of about 2,500 Afghans – composed of 700 “principal” applicants and their families – to be evacuated to the US in the first group of relocations. That group has already been approved for the special immigrant visas and cleared background checks, according to the White House.
About 20,000 Afghans who worked as interpreters for the Americans have applied for evacuation under the US State Department programme of Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs).
Some estimates suggest the total number of prospective evacuees could be as high as 100,000 once family members are counted.
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