(WASHINGTON) — With fewer than 4 in 10 Americans approving of President Joe Biden’s handling of Afghanistan, there is overwhelming bipartisan support for keeping U.S. troops in the country until all Americans and Afghans who aided the United States during the 20-year war have been evacuated, a new ABC News/Ipsos poll finds.
Although President Joe Biden has held firm that all U.S. troops must be out of the country by Tuesday, regardless of whether the evacuation mission at hand is complete, Americans broadly disagree, according to the poll.
The poll was conducted using Ipsos’ KnowledgePanel and all interviews were completed after the terrorist attack at Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport that left at least 13 U.S. service members and 170 Afghans dead. Hundreds more were wounded in the attack, which an affiliate of the Islamic State, ISIS-K, claimed responsibility for.
More than 8 in 10 (84%) Americans think U.S. troops should remain in the country until all Americans are evacuated, and just over 7 in 10 (71%) think they should stay until all Afghans who helped the United States are evacuated as well.
Breaking from the typical polarization that characterizes public attitudes, support for U.S. troops staying is strikingly consistent across party lines. Among Republicans, Democrats and independents, overwhelming majorities — 87%, 86% and 86%, respectively — believe U.S. troops should not leave until all Americans are out of Afghanistan. The partisan gap is also negligible for keeping troops in Afghanistan until all Afghans who aided the United States are evacuated, with 77% of Republicans, 72% of Democrats and 70% of independents saying troops should stay until that happens.
Speaking about the attack Thursday, Biden said the mission’s danger is why he’s “been so determined to limit the duration” of it.
“The sooner we can finish the better. Each day of operations brings added risk to our troops,” the president said Tuesday, two days before the suicide bombing. “Every day we’re on the ground, is another day we know that ISIS-K is seeking to target the airport and attack both U.S. and allied forces and innocent civilians.”
In a statement Saturday afternoon following a meeting with his national security team, Biden said U.S. troops are continuing to evacuate civilians amid “extremely dangerous conditions,” warning that another attack is “highly likely in the next 24-36 hours.” Earlier Saturday, the U.S. Embassy in Kabul issued an alert similar to the one issued roughly 14 hours before Thursday’s terrorist attack warning of security threats at the airport, telling all U.S. citizens to avoid the area or “leave immediately” if at the gates. In the evening, the U.S. embassy issued an updated warning of a “specific, credible threat” at the airport.
Fewer than 4 in 10 (38%) Americans approve of the president’s handling of Afghanistan — 17 points lower than the share who said they approved of Biden’s handling of the U.S. troop withdrawal in a July 23-24 ABC News/Ipsos poll.
While Sunday’s ABC News/Ipsos did not measure Biden’s overall approval, FiveThirtyEight’s tracker averaging presidential approval polls showed his approve-disapprove ratings were even for the first time during his term, converging at 47%-47% as of Friday.
But the public’s disapproval of his handling of Afghanistan has not influenced their views on other issues, according to the new ABC News/Ipsos poll. A strong majority (64%) approve of how Biden is responding to the coronavirus pandemic, which is virtually identical to the findings in July’s ABC News/Ipsos poll. Biden also enjoys high approval (62%) for his handling of rebuilding U.S. infrastructure.
A majority (55%) of the American public also approves of his handling of the economic recovery; 53% approved in July’s poll. About 4 in 10 (41%) approve of his handling of immigration and the situation at the southern border, compared to 37% last month.
On his handling of gun violence and crime, issues that track closely with one another, about half of Americans disapprove — 52% and 50%, respectively. But this actually represents an improvement since July, when 61% of Americans disapproved of Biden’s handling of gun violence and 58% disapproved of his handling of crime, according to the July ABC News/Ipsos poll.
For each issue, at least two-thirds of Democrats approve of how Biden is handling them. His highest approval ratings among his own party are for his handling of COVID-19 (91%), infrastructure (91%) and the economic recovery (89%), and his lowest approval ratings — each at 67% — are for his handling of the border, gun violence and Afghanistan.
Among the key group of independents, approval ratings track closely with the results among the public overall for each issue.
Fewer than a third of Republicans approve of Biden’s handling of each issue, but he gets the highest marks for his handling of the pandemic response (32%). On his handling of Afghanistan, only 1 in 10 (11%) Republicans approve, his lowest mark of the issues polled.
While two-thirds (67%) of Americans are at least somewhat worried about a major terrorist attack in the United States, Republicans are more likely to be concerned than Democrats and independents, 80% compared to 59% and 65%, respectively.
But even after the deadly terrorist attack in Kabul, the public has a lower level of concern for a major terrorist attack at home than during other times in recent years when it was measured by ABC News/Washington Post polls. In October 2014, about 7 in 10 (71%) of Americans were worried about an attack in the United States; in January 2015, about three-quarters were worried; and in September 2016, the last time this question was asked in ABC News polling, nearly 8 in 10 (78%) were worried.
A majority (56%) of Americans also feel that the end of the United States’ military presence in Afghanistan makes no difference in how safe the nation is from terrorism. Over a third (36%) feel this makes the United States less safe from terrorism, but again, Republicans are more likely than Democrats and independents to think it makes America less safe, 59% compared to 21% and 36%.
METHODOLOGY – This ABC News/Ipsos poll was conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs’ KnowledgePanel® Aug. 27-28, 2021, in English and Spanish, among a random national sample of 513 adults. Results have a margin of sampling error of 4.9 points, including the design effect. Partisan divisions are 31%-24%-36%, Democrats-Republicans-independents. See the poll’s topline results and details on the methodology here.
ABC News’ Dan Merkle and Ken Goldstein contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — Public health officials are sticking with the recommendation that people get booster shots eight months after getting the COVID-19 vaccine, but that could change based on reviewing the data, Dr. Anthony Fauci said on Sunday.
“We’re still sticking with the eight months,” the chief medical adviser for the White House told ABC “This Week” co-anchor Martha Raddatz. “However, as we’ve said, even in the original statement that came out, we’re gonna have to go through the standard way of the (Food and Drug Administration) looking at the data and then the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. So although we’re sticking with eight, we’re remaining flexible, that if the data tells us differently, we’ll make adjustments accordingly. But for now, we’re sticking with the eight.”
As the U.S. prepares a COVID-19 vaccine booster shot program, President Joe Biden said on Friday that the administration is considering whether booster shots should be given as early as five months after vaccination. Biden was meeting with the Israeli prime minister and credited his advice that the U.S. should start earlier.
The new daily COVID-19 case average in the U.S. has risen to 142,000, and is 130,000 daily cases higher than the average was about two months ago, as of Thursday. The U.S. has also continued to experience its steepest rise in COVID-19 related hospitalizations since the winter of 2020, with more than 101,000 patients hospitalized across the country with COVID-19. This marked the highest number of patients hospitalized with the virus in seven months.
Pediatric hospital admissions for children under 18 with COVID-19 were also up by 514% since July Fourth, as of Friday.
Regarding when children under 12 will be eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, Fauci said that the FDA should be examining the data toward the middle or end of September.
“Hopefully we’ll be acting quickly, depending on the data, and their assessment of the risk-benefit ratio,” Fauci said.
But the nation’s top infectious disease doctor also emphasized that there are other ways to protect unvaccinated children as they head back to school amid a surge in COVID-19 cases, fueled by the delta variant of the virus.
“You can protect children who can’t get vaccinated because of their age. Yes, we can protect them by surrounding them with a community of people who are vaccinated. That’s how you protect children. And you also do it by complying with the CDC guidance about masking, particularly masking in school, even though you have vaccinated teachers and vaccinated personnel. You want to give that extra, added level of protection for the children.”
Fauci also addressed an unclassified report released on Friday by the intelligence community that did not come to any definitive conclusion over the origins of the coronavirus first detected in Wuhan, China. The agencies that worked on the report wrote that two hypotheses are still possible: “natural exposure to an infected animal” or “a laboratory-associated incident.”
When asked if the origins will ever be known, Fauci said, “You know, I hope so … because it will help us to avoid this in the future. But we will need the cooperation of Chinese scientists and Chinese public health officials, if we’re gonna do the proper surveillance serologically of people who were infected in China, as well as the animals; being able to asses whether or not animals had viruses that are closely related to SARS-COV-2. We’ll need to do that in China with the cooperation of the Chinese,” Fauci said.
ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos contributed to this report.
This is a developing news story. Please check back for updates.
(WASHINGTON) — Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., accused President Joe Biden and his administration for painting a rosier picture of the Afghanistan evacuations as the Aug. 31 U.S. troop withdrawal looms.
“There is clearly no plan. There has been no plan. Their plan has basically been happy talk,” Sasse told ABC “This Week” co-anchor Martha Raddatz.
In an earlier interview with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Raddatz pressed the secretary about the United States’ ability to get the remaining U.S. citizens and Afghan allies out of the country once all U.S. troops where out of Afghanistan.
Blinken pointed to private and public assurances from Taliban leadership to allow free travel after America’s departure to anyone who wishes to leave the country. Sasse called the interview “disgusting” and he said the thinking that the U.S. should trust the Taliban is “stupid” and “insane.”
“And their plan still seems to be, ‘let’s rely on the Taliban’ because the Taliban cares a lot about what world opinion thinks of them — it was a disgusting revelation of yet again no plan,” Sasse added.
The senator, who serves on the Senate Intelligence Committee, has been critical of the U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan since the final months of the Trump administration.
“I fear this weak retreat is not grounded in reality and will make the world a more dangerous place,” Sasse said in a statement in November 2020.
In the last few days, Sasse has repeatedly urged Biden to keep troops in Afghanistan past Tuesday’s deadline to ensure that every U.S citizen and ally who wants to leave the country is safely evacuated.
Raddatz asked the senator Sunday what he thinks should be done to continue evacuations.
“There are some small ways to try to do things around the margins. But what we need is a commander in chief that actually has a big plan and a big way to solve this problem,” Sasse responded, accusing Biden of being “disconnected from reality.”
Sasse continued to hammer the “happy talk” he claimed is being used by Biden and that he said won’t resolve the growing terror threat in Afghanistan.
“The consequences are going to be a return of the Taliban that has been willing to provide safe haven to terrorists in the past,” Sasse added. “We have so many different groups who want to turn Afghanistan into the global capital city of jihad, and the administration doesn’t have a plan.”
Raddatz asked Sasse whether his plea to keep more U.S. forces in Afghanistan past the Tuesday deadline would put them at risk.
“Given that the Taliban said this date was a red line, given that ISIS is now carrying out these horrendous bombings and threatening more violence, wouldn’t staying have put our forces more at risk?” Raddatz asked.
“Joe Biden put our forces at risk by having no plan for how to evacuate. We are absolutely at risk,” Sasse responded.
“Abandoning Bagram base will be read about in military textbooks for decades as one of the stupidest military blunders ever,” Sasse continued, adding that the rapid reduction of U.S. forces in Afghanistan has left a “ridiculously untenable position” for evacuations.
“Thirteen servicemen and women died this week, and our families across this country are in prayer for those families and for the ultimate sacrifice they have made, but they were doing something to make sure that no one was left behind,” Sasse said.
(WASHINGTON) — Hours after President Joe Biden issued a dire warning that it was “highly likely” the Kabul airport could see another attack in the 24 to 36 hours leading up to the final U.S. troop withdrawal, Secretary of State Antony Blinken underscored the warning in an interview for ABC’s “This Week.”
“This is the most dangerous time in an already extraordinarily dangerous mission, these last couple of days. And so, we will do everything possible to keep people safe. But the risk is very high,” Blinken told ‘This Week’ Co-Anchor Martha Raddatz.
The Pentagon confirmed Saturday that the final drawdown of troops had begun, intensifying pressure on the United States to evacuate the remaining Americans looking to leave the country as the terror threat is ratcheted to new heights.
Blinken, who met with the president and top commanders at the White House Saturday morning, said the U.S. was doing “everything possible” to get the remaining Americans safely out of the country.
“We have about 300 American citizens left who have indicated to us that they want to leave. We are very actively working to help them get to the airport, get on a plane and get out of Afghanistan,” Biden’s top diplomat said.
The new warnings of possible attacks come as the country is still reeling from the bombing at Kabul’s airport Thursday that killed 13 U.S. service members, and more than 170 Afghans, even after the U.S. Embassy issued a warning of the urgent threat at the airport.
“The hard reality of this mission is that at a certain point, direct contact was necessary between our people, our men and women in uniform, and those coming into the airport,” Blinken said, when pressed by Raddatz why more steps weren’t taken to ensure troop security after the warning went out.
“Whenever you have something as horrific as this, anytime we have a loss of life, we’re going to go back and look very hard at what was done, and whether anything could have been done better,” Blinken said, again stressing the dangerous mission at hand.
But with a ticking clock, and the administration committed to keeping their Aug. 31 deadline for all troops to leave Afghanistan, real questions remain about the United States’ ability to get any remaining Americans and Afghan allies out of a country under Taliban control once U.S. troops are gone.
Blinken pointed to private and public assurances from Taliban leadership to allow free travel after America’s departure as a reassurance that there would be ways out of Kabul — a suggestion many fearing retribution for helping the United States take little comfort in.
“They’re not reassured — those Afghan interpreters who aren’t getting out, they’re not reassured by a statement like that. So what more can you tell them (about) how to get out?” Raddatz asked.
“One hundred and fourteen countries have made very clear that it’s their expectation that the Taliban will permit people to travel, going past Aug. 31. So, that is a clear expectation, across the entire world, across the entire international community,” Blinken argued.
“We have very significant leverage to work with over the weeks and months ahead to incentivize the Taliban to make good on its commitments,” he added, noting the U.S. has been “actively planning” to keep Kabul’s airport functioning, or reopening it quickly if needed, in conjunction with other countries in the region.
“If the Taliban is serious about the commitments that it’s repeatedly made in public, including nationally, across the country, as well as in private — commitments that the international community intends to hold the Taliban to — then we’ll find ways to do it,” Blinken said.
(NEW ORLEANS) — Ida, which became a Category 1 hurricane Friday afternoon, is forecast to strengthen into a Category 4 hurricane with 140 mph winds before landfall in Louisiana late Sunday.
The latest forecast track has Ida coming ashore in southeast Louisiana on Sunday late afternoon/early evening.
Ida will be a tropical storm nearing the border of Mississippi by Monday morning.
The storm is forecast to land the same day 16 years ago that Hurricane Katrina, a Category 3 storm, ravaged the Gulf Coast. Katrinia unleashed a series of events, taking the lives of more than 1,800 people and leaving more than $100 billion worth of damage in its wake.
Aug 29, 8:36 am
Ida may become strongest hurricane for wind speed in Louisiana history
With 155 mph winds expected at landfall, Ida is now forecast to surpass Hurricane Laura in 2020, and Last Island Hurricane in 1856 — which broke state records. Simply put, Ida may become the strongest hurricane by wind speed to hit Louisiana.
Aug 29, 8:23 am
Ida to make landfall with 155 mph winds in just a few hours: NHC
The National Hurricane Center forecasts that Ida will make landfall in a just a few hours, reaching wind speeds of up to 155 mph.
That wind speed would make Ida just 1 mph short of becoming a Category 5 storm.
Aug 29, 8:09 am
Hurricane-force winds hit southern Louisiana
Major Hurricane Ida is a high-end Category 4 hurricane with 150 mph and hurricane-force winds are hitting the coast of southern Louisiana now.
Hurricane Ida has winds of 150 mph and is about 50 miles southwest of the mouth of the Mississippi River. The storm is moving northwest at 15 mph. The current pressure is 933 mb.
At 8 p.m. Saturday night, Hurricane Ida was a Category 2 hurricane with 105 mph winds. The pressure was 969 mb. Ida has dropped 36 mb in 12 hours.
Aug 29, 7:46 am
Tornadoes possible as Ida makes landfall
A new tornado watch has been issued from New Orleans to Pensacola, Florida. A few tornadoes will be possible as Ida comes ashore.
This tornado watch will go until 7 p.m. CDT.
Aug 29, 7:04 am
Winds now at 150 mph
Hurricane Ida has strengthened once again with winds now 150 mph. Wind gusts of 93 mph are being reported in southeast Louisiana.
Ida is now 60 Miles south-sothwest of the mouth of the Mississippi River. Ida is moving northwest at 15 MPH.
Aug 29, 6:51 am
Hurricane Ida winds now at 145 mph, storm still intensifying
Hurricane Ida has strengthened with winds now at 145 mph and is a Category 4 major hurricane. Wind gusts of 74 mph are being reported on the extreme southern edge of Louisiana.
Ida is now 65 miles from the mouth of the Mississippi River and 80 miles south-southeast of Grand Isle, Louisiana. The storm is moving northwest at 15 mph.
Hurricane Ida now is expected to bring up to 16 feet of storm surge to the southern Louisiana Coast
(KABUL, Afghanistan) — Chaos has enveloped Kabul after Afghanistan’s government collapsed and the Taliban seized control, all but ending America’s 20-year campaign as it began: under Taliban rule.
Two suicide bombers affiliated with ISIS-K carried out what the Pentagon called a “complex attack” outside the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul on Thursday, killing at least 13 American service members and wounding 18, among scores of Afghan casualties.
President Joe Biden has addressed the nation on the attack from the White House Thursday, saying, “America will not be intimidated.” Biden sat down with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos for an exclusive one-on-one interview at the White House last week, the president’s first interview since the withdrawal from Afghanistan, and warned of the threat of attacks on the ground.
Here are the latest developments. All times Eastern:
Aug 29, 8:11 am
Bidens to attend dignified transfer of 13 victims at Dover Air Force Base
The president and the first lady are departing Washington for Dover Air Force Base to attend the dignified transfer of the 13 victims of Thursday’s attack at the Kabul airport as they return to the United States.
This is the first time the president has attended a dignified transfer in his presidency.
Aug 28, 9:20 pm
US Embassy in Kabul urges Americans to leave airport due to ‘specific, credible threat’
The U.S. Embassy in Kabul has again urged Americans to leave the Kabul airport area “immediately,” this time due to a “specific, credible threat.”
“U.S. citizens should avoid traveling to the airport and avoid all airport gates at this time,” the embassy said in a new security alert.
The airport’s Abbey Gate was the site of Thursday’s deadly ISIS-K attack.
Aug 28, 8:49 pm
2,000 people evacuated over 12-hour period Saturday
Approximately 2,000 people were evacuated from Kabul between 3 a.m. and 3 p.m. ET Saturday, according to the White House.
Eleven U.S. military flights carried 1,400 people, while seven coalition flights evacuated 600, a White House official said.
That compares to 4,200 people during the same period Friday.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Friday the number of evacuations would decrease amid the U.S. military’s withdrawal mission.
-ABC News’ Molly Nagle
Aug 28, 7:03 pm
35 wounded attack victims evacuated
Three flights evacuated 35 total victims wounded in the attack Thursday at the Kabul airport, according to an Air Mobility Command spokesman.
In the first mission, a C-17 military plane carried 22 of the most critically wounded victims, while two additional medical C-17s took a combined 13 patients “shortly after,” the spokesman said.
The flights had both wounded U.S. service members and Afghans.
The aircraft were carrying equipment and medical specialists capable of treating critically injured patients while in transit Friday to higher-level care at Germany’s Landstuhl Regional Medical Center.
Aug 28, 5:26 pm
Afghanistan withdrawal could lead to ‘surge in radicalization’: DHS
The Department of Homeland Security is warning that the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan could lead to a “surge in radicalization” of violent extremists at home, according to a new intelligence notice obtained by ABC News.
In the report issued confidentially to law enforcement Friday, intelligence analysts said that would-be domestic and foreign terrorists “likely are attempting to exploit” the withdrawal and “deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan to inspire attacks and recruit like-minded extremists online.”
“In recent weeks, violent extremist messaging has praised the Taliban for its decades-long fight against perceived US oppression and has called for adopting Taliban-type tactics in the Homeland,” the report said.
Should the Taliban remain in control of Afghanistan, DHS anticipates a resulting “surge in radicalization of US-based violent extremists and probably contribute to increased support for foreign terrorist organizations in the United States, including facilitation activities and attempted travel to Afghanistan,” the report said.
-ABC News’ Josh Margolin
Aug 28, 3:29 pm
Another attack on Kabul airport ‘highly likely’ next 24 to 36 hours: Biden
President Joe Biden issued a statement after meeting with his National Security Team on Saturday, saying another attack soon at the airport was “highly likely” and that the airstrike that killed two ISIS-K targets Friday night won’t be the last.
“The threat of terrorist attacks on the airport remains high. Our commanders informed me that an attack is highly likely in the next 24 to 36 hours,” Biden said, noting that he told military leaders to take “every possible measure” to prioritize protecting service members.
He also touted the airstrike, adding, “This strike was not the last. We will continue to hunt down any person involved in that heinous attack and make them pay.”
-ABC News’ Molly Nagle
Aug 28, 2:56 pm
Defense Department names all 13 service members killed in Afghanistan
The Defense Department has named the 13 service members who died on Thursday in an enemy attack while supporting non-combatant evacuation operations in Kabul.
Those killed included 11 Marines, as well as an Army soldier and a Navy medic, U.S. officials said.
Aug 28, 12:39 pm
300 more Americans evacuated from Afghanistan, 350 still trying to leave
About 300 Americans were evacuated from Afghanistan over the last 24 hours, bringing the total to 5,400 U.S. citizens since Aug. 14, according to a State Department spokesperson.
The spokesperson said there are approximately 350 U.S. citizens confirmed to be in Afghanistan who are seeking to leave. However, some may have already left the country. U.S. teams are in touch with all of them.
“We believe that some of these people are nearly or already out of the country,” the spokesperson said.
Further, an additional 280 or so U.S. citizens are in touch with the State Department and either want to stay in Afghanistan or have not informed the government of plans to leave the country. This is the first time officials have given a number for this group of citizens.
Aug 28, 11:50 am
US troops begin withdrawal from Kabul airport
Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby announced Saturday that U.S. troops have begun their withdrawal from the Hamid Karzai International airport in Kabul.
“We have begun gun retrograding,” Kirby said, using the military term meaning that the withdrawal of the 5,000 troops from the airport has started. He didn’t offer any details on the withdrawal mission, which is slated to wrap up by Aug. 31.
Army Maj. Gen. Willian Taylor said at the Saturday briefing, “We’re going to continue to operate the airport up until the end.”
Aug 28, 11:22 am
2 ‘high-profile ISIS targets’ killed in Friday airstrike in Afghanistan
During a Pentagon briefing Saturday, Maj. Gen. William Taylor confirmed that two “high-profile ISIS targets were killed” in Friday night’s “over-the-horizon counterterrorism operation” strike in the Nangarhar Province.
Another was wounded and there were zero known civilian casualties, he said. The ISIS targets’ names won’t be released.
Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said the two were “ISIS-K planners and facilitators.” He didn’t elaborate on whether they were part of the deadly explosion outside the Kabul airport on Thursday.
“Without specifying any future plans, I will say that we will continue to have the ability to defend ourselves and to leverage over-the-horizon capability to conduct counterterrorism operations as needed,” Taylor said at the briefing.
Aug 28, 9:26 am
6,800 people evacuated from Kabul in 24 hours: White House
Approximately 6,800 people were evacuated from Kabul between 3 a.m. Friday and 3 a.m. Saturday, a White House official said. They left the city on 32 U.S. military flights — 27 C-17s and five C-130s — and 34 coalition flights.
About 12,500 were evacuated in that same time period between Thursday and Friday, an official said.
The latest numbers bring the total evacuated since Aug. 14 to approximately 111,900.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Friday that there would be a reduction in the number of people leaving the country as the retrograde process gets underway.
-ABC News’ Molly Nagle
Aug 28, 12:38 am
US embassy in Kabul urges Americans to leave airport gates ‘immediately’
The U.S. embassy in Kabul is again issuing a warning about “security threats at the Kabul airport,” this time urging Americans at the airport gates to “leave immediately.”
“Because of security threats at the Kabul airport, we continue to advise U.S. citizens to avoid traveling to the airport and to avoid airport gates,” the embassy said. “U.S. citizens who are at the Abbey gate, East gate, North gate or the New Ministry of Interior gate now should leave immediately.”
The Abbey gate was the site of Thursday’s deadly ISIS-K attack.
Aug 27, 10:10 pm
US kills ISIS-K planner with unmanned airstrike
The U.S. has conducted an “over the horizon counterterrorism operation” against an ISIS-K planner with an unmanned strike in Afghanistan, according to U.S. Central Command.
“U.S. military forces conducted an over-the-horizon counterterrorism operation today against an ISIS-K planner,” Capt. Bill Urban, spokesman for U.S. Central Command, said in a statement. “The unmanned airstrike occurred in the Nangahar Province of Afghanistan. Initial indications are that we killed the target. We know of no civilian casualties.”
A U.S. official said there is no link between Thursday’s suicide bombing and the individual killed in the drone strike, but they were involved in possibly planning additional attacks.
President Joe Biden has said the U.S. planned to conduct “over the horizon” operations — often drone strikes — against terrorist targets even after troops left the country on Aug. 31.
-ABC News’ Luis Martinez
Aug 27, 7:06 pm
At least 34 Afghan children evacuated to US were ‘unaccompanied’
At least 34 Afghan children evacuated to the U.S. have been referred to the Department of Health and Human Services’ refugee resettlement office because they were “unaccompanied,” an HHS official told ABC News Friday.
Some had traveled with an adult and have been unified “onsite,” while others have been placed in the licensed provider network run by HHS’s Office of Refugee Resettlement, according to the official.
Unaccompanied minors “do not represent a significant share of Afghan arrivals,” and HHS is working to process, unify or place these children “with licensed care providers that are able to provide culturally and linguistically appropriate services,” a department spokesperson told ABC News in a statement.
Aug 27, 6:28 pm
4,200 people evacuated from Kabul in 12-hour period Friday
Some 4,200 people were evacuated from Kabul between 3 a.m. and 3 p.m. ET Friday, according to the latest figures from the White House.
Twelve U.S. military flights carried approximately 2,100 evacuees, and 29 coalition flights carried about 2,100 people.
Since Aug. 14, the U.S. has helped evacuate approximately 109,200 people from Afghanistan.
-ABC News’ Allie Pecorin
Aug 27, 4:58 pm
Flags flown at half-staff for attack victims
Flags at the White House and at all military posts and naval stations were flown at half-staff Friday to honor the victims of the attack in Kabul, following a proclamation from President Biden on Thursday.
The flags will remain at half-staff until sunset on Monday, Aug. 30, the White House said.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also ordered the flags at the U.S. Capitol to be flown at half-staff.
Thursday’s deadly attack outside the airport in Kabul killed at least 13 U.S. service members and wounded 20, according to the Pentagon.
Aug 27, 4:16 pm
20 service members wounded, up from 18: Pentagon
Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said in a briefing Friday that 20 service members were wounded in the attack in Kabul according to the last count he received, up from the 18 officials said were wounded on Thursday.
“There were some additional wounded, but they were treated on-site and returned to duty,” Kirby said. He declined to give additional details explaining it’s not custom to talk about the status of the wounded, even anonymously.
As evacuations continue from Kabul, Gen. Glen VanHerck, commander of NORCOM and NORAD, said via a video teleconference that the Department of Defense now has a capacity to house approximately 50,000 Afghans across seven U.S. military bases.
The Pentagon has authorized Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia, Fort Pickett in Virginia, Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico, Fort McCoy in Wisconsin, Fort Lee in Virginia, Fort Bliss in Texas and Joint Base McGuire Dix Lakehurst in New Jersey to house Afghan refugees until they resettle in the U.S.
“We’re prepared to house them and feed them for as long as it takes to get them through the process, as long as the secretary approves that,” VanHerck said.
He assured that “before putting feet in the continental United States,” all Special Immigrant Visa holders and refugees are thoroughly vetted and screened.
More than 14,000 Afghan refugees have arrived in the U.S. through Dulles International Airport, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam said on Friday.
Aug 27, 3:37 pm
State Department working with 500 Americans trying to leave
State Department spokesperson Ned Price said at a briefing on Friday that 300 U.S. citizens were evacuated within the last day, and there are approximately 500 more U.S. citizens the State Department is working with who still want to leave.
In addition, “several hundred” American citizens remain in the country who have not yet determined if they want to leave for various reasons, Price said. He did not specify how large that group is in total.
The U.S. has also made progress in evacuating Afghans who worked for the U.S. embassy in Kabul, Price said, adding the “vast majority” of them and their immediate family members are either out of the country or safely on the grounds of Kabul airport.
He did not provide a total number but said they are “actively working” to evacuate all remaining staff.
Aug 27, 3:16 pm
White House vows retribution for terror attack
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden’s promise to hunt down the terrorists responsible for Thursday’s attack in Kabul and make them pay is a death threat.
“I think he made clear yesterday that he does not want them to live on the Earth anymore,” Psaki said, when asked whether there would be an effort to capture them and put them on trial.
Psaki would not provide additional details on how a mission to kill those responsible would play out but said, “his commitment remains until it’s done.”
The deadly explosion in Kabul on Thursday has ignited calls from Republican lawmakers in both chambers for Biden’s resignation, which Psaki dismissed, saying it’s not the time for politics.
“The backdrop here is that the U.S. men and women of the military deployed on the ground are bravely continuing to implement a mission to save lives on the ground,” Psaki said. “Everyone should be supportive of that.”
-ABC News’ Allison Pecorin
Aug 27, 3:13 pm
Marines revise fatality account from 10 to 11
The U.S. Marine Corps has revised their casualty count on Friday following the attack in Kabul, up from 10 killed in the last statement from the service to now eleven.
The fatalities of the 13 U.S. service members killed in Thursday’s attack breaks down to 11 Marines, one Navy and one Army member.
“Our focus now is taking care of the families of those who were killed and caring for our injured. The identities and units of those killed will be withheld until 24 hours after all next-of-kin notifications are complete,” Maj. Jim Stenger said in a statement.
The Marine Corps on Thursday had said 11 Marines were killed, and lowered that number to ten, before revising its count again.
Aug 27, 3:11 pm
White House warns of ongoing, active security threats
White House press secretary Jen Psaki reiterated an earlier readout from the White House at an afternoon briefing saying that Biden’s national security team has advised him that another terror attack in Kabul is “likely” and that the military is taking “maximum force protection measures” in Kabul as a result.
“The threat is ongoing, and it is active,” Psaki said, echoing statements made in an earlier Pentagon briefing. “Our troops are still in danger.”
She went on to explain the retrograde period is the most dangerous part of the mission there.
“This is the period of time when the military, commanders on the ground and forces, begin to move not just troops home but equipment home,” she said.
Psaki said the military also made clear to the president that they are committed to continuing the evacuation mission up through Tuesday, Aug. 31, Biden’s deadline for a military withdrawal, but said to anticipate evacuation numbers going down in the coming days.
“That is a result of the retrograde process that needs to take place, but also I will note that force protection is front and center and is vital to the mission,” she said.
Aug 27, 1:14 pm
Biden’s national security team warns ‘another terror attack in Kabul is likely’
President Biden met with his national security team, including commanders and diplomats calling in from the field, on Friday morning in the Situation Room, who advised that “another terror attack in Kabul is likely, but that they are taking maximum force protection measures,” according to a readout from a White House official.
“They continue to prioritize evacuating the remaining American citizens who have indicated that they wish to leave, and are engaged in a variety of means to get them to the airport safely,” the statement read.
“Our commanders also updated the President and Vice President on plans to develop ISIS-K targets. The next few days of this mission will be the most dangerous period to date,” it continued.
Biden did not take questions from reporters during his only public event on the day but did address the mission in Afghanistan off the top of his Oval Office meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.
“My heart, our hearts go out to all those who we’ve lost,” he said.
“But look, the mission there being performed is dangerous, and is now, it’s come with a significant loss of American personnel,” he said. “But it’s a worthy mission because they continue to evacuate folks out of that region, out of the airport,” adding 12,000 were evacuated in the last 24 hours.
“I met with my commanders this morning, first thing in the morning, got a detailed briefing about yesterday’s attack and the measures they’re taking to protect our forces and complete the mission. And we will complete the mission,” Biden said.
-ABC News’ Molly Nagle
Aug 27, 12:55 pm
Obama reacts to Kabul attack
In a new statement reacting to the attack in Kabul, former President Barack Obama said Friday that he and former first lady Michelle Obama are “heartbroken” — echoing White House press secretary Jen Psaki’s statements Thursday about the pain of losing service members as commander in chief.
“As president, nothing was more painful than grieving with the loved ones of Americans who gave their lives serving our country. As President Biden said, these service members are heroes who have been engaged in a dangerous, selfless mission to save the lives of others,” he said in a statement.
“Our hearts go out to the families who lost a loved one, and to everyone continuing the mission in Kabul. We’re also thinking of the families of the Afghans who died, many of whom stood by America and were willing to risk everything for a chance at a better life,’ Obama wrote.
Biden has long opposed the war in Afghanistan, and as vice president, urged Obama to reconsider sending in additional troops to the country, Obama confirmed in his memoir, “A Promised Land.”
-ABC News’ Molly Nagle
Aug 27, 12:53 pm
Two Brits, one child of British citizen killed in attack
Two British nationals and the child of another British national were killed in Thursday’s attack at the airport in Kabul, British foreign minister Dominic Raab said on Friday, adding that he was “deeply saddened” by the development.
“These were innocent people and it is a tragedy that as they sought to bring their loved ones to safety in the UK they were murdered by cowardly terrorists,” he said in a statement.
Thursday’s terror attack, for which ISIS-K has claimed responsibility, has killed at least 200 Afghans civilians and 13 U.S. service members.
“We will not turn our backs on those who look to us in their hour of need, and we will never be cowed by terrorists,” Raab said.
Aug 27, 12:51 pm
3 more bases in US authorized to receive Afghan evacuees
As evacuations continue from Kabul, the Defense Department has authorized three more bases to receive Afghan evacuees: Marine Corps Base Quantico, in Virginia; Fort Pickett, in Virginia; and Holloman Air Force Base, in New Mexico, according to Pentagon press secretary John Kirby.
Along with four bases already authorized, these U.S. bases will have the capacity to house and care for “up to 50,000 Afghan special immigrant visa applicants, their families, and other at-risk individuals,” Kirby said.
The four other previously announced bases are Fort McCoy in Wisconsin, Fort Lee in Virginia, Fort Bliss in Texas and Joint Base McGuire Dix Lakehurst in New Jersey.
More than 6,000 Afghan refugees have arrived through Dulles International Airport so far, Gov. Ralph Northam said earlier this week.
Aug 27, 11:33 am
More than 5,000 waiting at airport day after deadly attack: Pentagon
Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said at a briefing on Friday that, despite the attack in Kabul, there are approximately 5,400 individuals at the airport waiting for flights out of Afghanistan.
State Department consular officers “continue to screen and process people arriving at gates around Kabul,” although “some gates have been closed,” Kirby said.
He said Americans, Special Immigrant Visa applicants and “vulnerable Afghans who have the designated and proper credentials will continue to be processed for departure from the airfield.”
“We have the ability to include evacuees on U.S. Military airlift out of Afghanistan until the very end,” he said.
Kirby explained that the military would “balance over the next few days” evacuating people and the “retrograde” of the airport, or the process of pulling out troops and equipment.
“Lives are still the priority and the lives of our troops, of course, the lives of evacuees, and trying to continue to get as many out as possible,” he said, adding: “We will be able to fly out evacuees right up until the last moment. That’s going to be the goal.”
Hundreds of people were seen lining up near an evacuation checkpoint outside of the airport in Kabul, just one day after a deadly attack killed at least 200 Afghans civilians and 13 U.S. service members.
Maj. Gen. William “Hank” Taylor also said that two flights have landed at Ramstein Air Base in Germany “carrying our wounded personnel from the attack.” They were transferred to a local medical facility and are receiving care, he said.
Aug 27, 11:06 am
No second suicide bomber: Pentagon
Maj. Gen. William “Hank” Taylor said at a Pentagon briefing on Friday that the U.S. now believes there was just one explosion on Thursday and one suicide bomber — and that there was no second explosion or bomber at or near the Baron Hotel.
“I can confirm for you that we do not believe that there was a second explosion at or near the Baron Hotel, that it was one suicide bomber,” he said. “We’re not sure how that report was provided incorrectly, but we do know it’s not any surprise that in the confusion of very dynamic events like this can cause information sometimes to be misreported or garbled.”
Officials had said at a Pentagon briefing on Thursday that they believed there were two suicide bombers — one outside the Abbey Gate at Hamid Karzai International Airport and one at or near the Baron Hotel, the latter of which has now been retracted.
Aug 27, 10:46 am
170 Afghans killed in the Kabul attack: Afghan official
At least 170 Afghans were killed and 200 wounded in the attack in Kabul on Thursday, according to an official at the Ministry of Public Health who spoke on condition of anonymity with ABC News.
He said among the 170 dead, 34 are male (including two boys and 32 men), and four are female (including one girl and three women). He said that the identities of the 132 other people are still unknown at this stage.
The World Health Organization regional headquarters in Cairo had reported earlier at least 161 Afghan civilians died in the attack in Kabul on Thursday.
Wazir Akbar Khan Hospital in Kabul reported to the WHO it had 145 dead bodies brought into the hospital. The Emergency Hospital in Kabul also reported 16 dead on arrival.
Aug 27, 10:04 am
US continues evacuations despite threats of more attacks
Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command and highest-ranking commander in the Middle East, told reporters at the Pentagon on Thursday that further security threats following the attack in Kabul are “extremely real.”
“We believe it is their desire to continue those attacks, and we expect those attacks to continue,” he said via a videoconference.
“Right now, our focus really, we have other active threat streams, extremely active threat streams against the airfield, we want to make sure we are taking the steps to protect ourselves there. Our focus is on that,” he added.
He said the U.S. is doing everything it can to prepare for those attacks including reaching out to the Taliban, “who are actually providing the outer security cordon around the airfield, to make sure they know what we expect them to do to protect us.”
Despite Thursday’s “complex attack” and threats for more, he said the U.S. will continue its evacuation mission ahead of a full military withdrawal on Aug. 31.
Biden, in remarks from the White House later on Thursday, underscored that he has repeatedly warned that the evacuation mission in Afghanistan was a dangerous one — but one that would continue until the end of the month, even as threats persist.
“These ISIS terrorists will not win,” Biden said. “We will rescue the Americans in there. We will get our Afghan allies out. And our mission will go on.”
White House press secretary Jen Psaki, in a White House briefing following his remarks, cited “ongoing threats” as reasoning for why Biden and his military commanders stuck to the Aug. 31 deadline.
Aug 27, 9:11 am
Former Army Ranger details ‘vulnerable’ US position at airport gates
Jariko Denman, a former Army Ranger who served in Afghanistan and was working in Kabul on Thursday alongside other veterans to help get evacuees out, described the conditions outside the airport to ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Friday as one that left American forces vulnerable.
“The way that we were forced to expose ourselves in order to get our people in, made us very, very much vulnerable to it,” said Denman, who was flown out of Kabul and to Qatar just ahead of the attack.
“With the sheer numbers of people coming in, we didn’t have the time to, you know, do those different steps and security of walking up, talk to them, search them,” Denman said. “It was just, you know, a mob of 7,000, 8,000 people arm’s distance away.”
Denman said the conditions outside the gate were the worst he’s seen in his 20 years in the Army which includes 15 deployments.
“Families, people carrying toddlers, babies, elderly, trying to get to these gates, to get to us to get through, and I would describe it as a mosh pit on steroids,” he said. “You know, 600, 700 meters long of compacted human beings trying to get to one little choke point. It was terrible.”
“In 20 years, I never saw an operating force more sleep-deprived or just working more than these Marines and other airmen and soldiers that were on the ground,” he added.
Denman, who is in touch with people still in Kabul, said he’s hearing the same theme in the wake of the attack: “It was just carnage.”
Aug 27, 7:49 am
‘Every effort was made to destroy’ Kabul embassy staff details, UK says
The United Kingdom said “every effort was made to destroy sensitive material” when British embassy staff in Kabul evacuated their building as Taliban fighters approached Afghanistan’s capital.
“We have worked tirelessly to secure the safety of those who worked for us including getting three families to safety,” a spokesperson for the U.K. Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office told ABC News in a statement Friday. “During the drawdown of our Embassy every effort was made to destroy sensitive material.”
A report published Thursday by British daily national newspaper The Times said its journalist found papers with the contact details of Afghans working for the U.K. government and of locals applying for positions “scattered on the ground at the British embassy compound in Kabul that has been seized by the Taliban.” Some Afghan employees and their families have not been able to evacuate Kabul, according to The Times.
A source at the U.K. Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office told ABC News: “We are grateful to The Times for sharing the information retrieved with us and working with us to enable us to get these three families to safety.”
Aug 27, 6:59 am
US, allies evacuate 12,500 people from Kabul in past 24 hours
The United States has evacuated and facilitated the evacuation of some 105,000 people from Kabul since Aug. 14, when the Taliban closed in on Afghanistan’s capital, according to a White House official.
In a 24-hour period from Thursday to Friday, 35 U.S. military flights carried approximately 8,500 evacuees out of Kabul. Another 4,000 people were evacuated via 54 coalition aircraft. Since the end of July, approximately 110,600 people have been relocated from Kabul via U.S. military and coalition flights, the White House
Aug 27, 6:18 am
Philadelphia airport to receive Afghan refugees
People fleeing Afghanistan are expected to arrive at Philadelphia’s primary airport in the coming days, according to a city spokesperson.
“This is a federal-led operation, and we are collaborating with the federal government in this emergency response, protecting the rights and dignity of the Afghan families arriving in the country,” the spokesperson told ABC News on Friday. “We stand ready to provide medical assistance, housing, and connection to our diverse community of immigrant service providers who can assist with an array of social services.”
The Philadelphia International Airport is the second airport in the United States to welcome arrivals of Afghan refugees, in addition to the Dulles International Airport in Virginia.
It was unclear when or exactly how many Afghan refugees would be landing in Philadelphia.
“Philadelphia stands in solidarity with Afghan refugees and we look forward to providing them a safe haven in our Welcoming City,” Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney said in a statement.
Aug 27, 5:33 am
UK enters final stages of Afghanistan evacuation
The United Kingdom announced Friday that it has entered the final stages of its evacuation from Afghanistan and no more people will be called to the airport to leave.
Processing facilities at the Baron Hotel in Kabul, outside the Hamid Karzai International Airport, have been closed and the British Armed Forces will now focus on evacuating the U.K. nationals and others who have already been processed and are at the airport awaiting departure, according to a press release from the U.K. Ministry of Defense.
“The U.K.’s ability to process further cases is now extremely reduced and additional numbers will be limited. No further people will be called forward to the airport for evacuation,” the defense ministry said. “Evacuating all those civilians we have already processed will free up the capacity needed on U.K. military aircraft to bring out our remaining diplomats and military personnel.”
U.K. Defense Secretary Ben Wallace called it a “remarkable achievement” that his government has evacuated more than 13,000 people from Kabul since Aug. 13, when the Taliban closed in on Afghanistan’s capital.
“Our top priority as we move through this process will be the protection of all those involved who are operating in a heightened threat environment,” Wallace said in a statement Friday. “It is with deep regret that not everyone has been able to be evacuated during this process.”
“We will continue to honour our debt to all those who have not yet been able to leave Afghanistan,” he added. “We will do all that we can to ensure they reach safety.”
(WASHINGTON) — In recent weeks, we have watched harrowing images of desperate Afghan men, women and children attempt to escape Taliban rule. For 20 years, the United States made promises: If you help us defeat al-Qaida and the Taliban, then we will ensure you and your family are safe from retribution. And if that is not possible in Afghanistan, we will provide you refuge in the United States.
Now, these men and women who risked their lives to support our fight against terrorism, plus millions of Afghans who have flourished in the increasing freedoms from the last 20 years — women, journalists, Christians and other Afghans of non-Muslim faiths — face great risk of violent oppression or death.
It is right that the U.S. is evacuating as many people as possible. We should do so without a deadline. The U.S. should stay until we finish the job of evacuating all American citizens and Afghans that served alongside us, and as many other Afghans in fear for their lives as possible.
Inspired by the example set by the Greatest Generation, who experienced firsthand the human costs of war during World War II, our country has served as a global beacon of freedom and opportunity by providing a safe haven for victims of war, oppression, genocide and natural disasters. We should save our allies and offer refuge to those endangered because it is the humane and just thing to do and is consistent with our country’s principles that all men and women are “endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights,” including life and liberty.
No, we cannot intervene in every injustice in the world. As great as our country is, we are humans, not God, with limitations on our resources, time, knowledge and capabilities. But we do have a moral responsibility to save who we can from mass atrocities and genocide.
Moreover, failure to protect our allies could yield national security implications in the future. My colleagues at the Council on National Security and Immigration have argued that failing to live up to our promises could put our military service members in danger by making it more difficult to forge new alliances in future conflict missions. And as I’ve written before, robust refugee programs strengthen national security.
Fortunately, both Democratic and Republican governors across the country are stepping up. From California to South Carolina, state leaders are vocally supporting U.S. efforts to evacuate Afghans and offering their states as refuge. As Maryland Republican Gov. Larry Hogan said, “It’s the least we can do” for people who put their lives at risk for our country.
While these governors have shown their commitment to our nation’s values of compassion and freedom, their sentiments are not universal. Some politicians, including former President Donald Trump and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, are sowing doubt around our allies by misconstruing the thorough vetting process for Afghan refugees. This fearmongering is dangerous and not based in fact.
As former assistant secretary of counterterrorism and threat prevention at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security under Trump, I was responsible for strengthening the security vetting processes used for refugees, special immigrant visa holders and others. In general, refugees and SIVs are among the most thoroughly vetted categories of immigrants admitted to the United States. Of course, the rapid evacuation and large numbers of refugees being sent to the United States understandably raises questions as to whether our processes can work effectively with such significant increases in volume in a compressed time frame.
Last week, I set about to understand the processes being used. My former colleagues in the vetting community worked around the clock, leveraging technology and redesigning processes to allow for a more streamlined, but thorough, security vetting process.
Here’s the truth: Any Afghan, whether they are being admitted as an SIV or as part of the humanitarian parole, is only admitted into the U.S. after biographic and biometric checks are conducted. The U.S. is checking names, dates of birth and other biographic identifiers, as well as fingerprints, against multiple agencies’ holdings. That includes the terrorist watchlist as well as the biometric databases that are part of U.S. Refugee Admissions Program screening. If derogatory information is discovered, an individual is pulled aside for additional screening. And as has been publicly reported, such individuals are not admitted to the United States.
While the evacuation of Americans and Afghans has been flawed in many respects, and I wish the Biden administration had heeded the warnings that many offered about the need to invest in our security vetting procedures well in advance of the current crisis, I am confident that the security vetting process being used for admitting Afghan refugees into the United States is competent and will keep known and suspected terrorists from entering the country.
Knowing that the vetting process is sound, political leaders with legitimate criticisms of the Biden administration’s evacuation process and policy choices should choose their words carefully. Multiple studies have linked anti-immigrant and fearmongering rhetoric, particularly by prominent political and media personalities, to increases in hate crimes and violence. As we move to resettle tens of thousands of Afghan refugees, we should avoid language that incites fear or hatred. These Afghans have endured trauma to help the United States, and we should welcome them.
We should absolutely be asking tough questions about the Biden administration’s actions in Afghanistan. The U.S. withdrawal is creating instability in the region that could embolden ISIS and al-Qaida. The future for Afghan women and girls is at risk. The country is in chaos. Let’s focus on those questions instead of inciting fear about individuals who risked everything, in the hope that their country’s future would look very different than this.
Our focus now, in these final days, must be on supporting our troops as they complete the evacuation from a 20-year war that’s cost thousands of lives. One meaningful way to do that is by welcoming and supporting Afghan refugees who have welcomed and supported us in their homeland.
Elizabeth Neumann is chief strategy officer at Moonshot and a national security analyst for ABC News. She served as the Department of Homeland Security’s assistant secretary for counterterrorism and threat prevention from March 2018 until she resigned in April 2020.
(KABUL, Afghanistan) — When the U.S. Embassy in Kabul closed, the last individuals to secure it were not civilians or even U.S. military, but the quiet and dynamic special agents of the Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) of the State Department.
These federal law enforcement officers are the professionals conducting personnel recovery missions in Kabul (finding and bringing U.S. citizens and others to the airport), protecting U.S. personnel, coordinating with the Department of Defense (DOD) and trying to create a secure zone at the airport with limited resources.
When, on Thursday, a terrorist attack at the Kabul airport killed U.S. Marines deployed there to help keep residents and travelers safe, these agents were the ones in charge of the emergency response.
Diplomatic security efforts began during the First World War. DSS was formally established in 1985 in response to the deadly 1983 bombings of the U.S. Embassy and Marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon. Today, its main duties are to secure the integrity of U.S. travel documents (namely against visa and passport fraud), to facilitate U.S. foreign policy by protecting diplomatic assets (including every U.S. Embassy and U.S. Consulate), personnel, information around the world and to aid in counterintelligence.
DSS agents are tasked with some of the most demanding and dangerous work in the federal law enforcement community. They are deployed throughout the world, protecting 275 U.S. diplomatic missions in over 170 countries and 30 U.S. cities. These missions include investigation and protection, and enable the agents to get involved in all aspects of American foreign policy, from international criminal identification and apprehension of criminals and terrorists to the protection of important U.S. figures and citizens, such as the secretary of state, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and other senior diplomats.
As part of their broad mandate to provide a safe and secure environment for U.S. diplomacy, the agents also safeguard foreign dignitaries that visit the U.S., advise U.S. ambassadors on security matters and manage security programs at embassies and consulates around the world as Regional Security Officers (RSO) and at international events, including the Olympics.
To become DSS agents, officers must take a Criminal Investigator Training Program (CITP) at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC), a Basic Special Agent Course (BSAC) at the Diplomatic Security Training Center, courses at the Foreign Service Institute (FSI) and for overseas assignments Basic Regional Security Office Course (RSO School) and a High Threat Operations Course (HTOC) to prepare them for dangerous situations, like the current one in Afghanistan.
When working in a risky environment, the Regional Security Officer (RSO) places the DSS agents at different locations — the goal being to protect American interests in the foreign country while dealing with the host nation’s government and security forces. The Marine Security Guard (MSG) detachments and contracted locals work for the RSO office as part of that security profile.
At the U.S. Embassy in Kabul — one of the most dangerous and active RSO offices in the DSS — over the last 20 years, the agents have helped track down and stop terrorist and rebel attacks and help stabilize the government of Afghanistan.
Despite any resourcing issues, the RSO bears the responsibility of ensuring the safety of the embassy, its personnel and other U.S. citizens. This includes balancing their law enforcement and counterintelligence duties, as RSOs often become links in a chain between the diplomatic and intelligence agencies of the U.S. government.
This often forces the DSS agents to walk a fine line between security officers and diplomats, to accomplish the dangerous, multi-layered missions for which they are responsible, in some of the world’s most problematic locations.
Donald J. Mihalek is an ABC News contributor, retired senior Secret Service agent and regional field training instructor who served during two presidential transitions. He was also a police officer and in the U.S. Coast Guard.
(NEW YORK) — Ida, which became a Category 1 hurricane Friday afternoon, is forecast to strengthen into a Category 4 hurricane with 140 mph winds before landfall in Louisiana late Sunday.
On Saturday morning Ida crossed over western Cuba and entered the southern Gulf of Mexico, where it is expected to begin rapid intensification as it careens toward the Louisiana coast, according to the National Hurricane Center.
New Orleans will begin to see high winds as early as Saturday night, Mayor LaToya Cantrell said at a Friday news conference, warning that the storm presents a “dramatic threat” to the city.
Mandatory evacuations, for areas outside the levees, were ordered south of New Orleans, effective 3 p.m. local time Friday. In the rest of the parish, evacuations are voluntary.
“We’re not calling for a mandatory evacuation, because the time simply is not on our side,” Cantrell said. “We do not want to have people on the road, and therefore in greater danger, because of the lack of time.”
Ida is forecast to reach major hurricane status and close in on the Louisiana coastline Sunday morning, making landfall between 5 and 11 p.m. By early Monday morning, Ida will rapidly weaken and move inland; however, much of Louisiana will still experience strong winds.
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said people who are evacuating should get to their destinations by Saturday evening.
“This could be a life-altering storm if you’re not prepared,” Edwards said at a Friday press conference.
“We need to take this storm very seriously. Now is not the time for jokes, for playing around,” Cantrell said. “We need to take it seriously, we need to reach out to our neighbors, our family members and our friends.”
Storm surge could reach 15 feet along parts of the Louisiana/Mississippi coastline and 6 feet on Lake Pontchartrain in New Orleans.
A storm surge watch is in effect along parts of the northern Gulf Coast, from Sabine Pass, Louisiana, through New Orleans to the Alabama-Florida border.
The dangerous storm surge will be exacerbated by extreme rainfall. Much of Louisiana and Mississippi could get 6 inches of rain, while parts of southeast Louisiana and the Mississippi could get 10 to 20 inches. Flash flooding is also possible through early next week.
Some COVID-19 testing and vaccine sites are closing early Friday due to the storm, the Louisiana Department of Health said.
The high number of COVID-19 patients in Louisiana also means the state will not be able to evacuate hospitals, the governor said. Cantrell also said New Orleans hospitals were not being evacuated at this time.
“We’ve been talking to hospitals about making all the preparations possible to make sure that their generators are working, that they have way more water on hand than normal,” Edwards said.
Health officials are asking people to avoid emergency departments throughout the storm if possible.
Residents should be prepared for power outages, downed trees and significant street flooding, said Collin Arnold, director of the New Orleans Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness.
Hurricane warnings and states of emergency have been declared in New Orleans and Louisiana.
Ida should weaken to a tropical storm by Monday, but it’s forecast to move inland across Louisiana, with more potentially devastating downpours.About 20 inches of rain are expected, which means extreme floods are possible.
President Joe Biden has approved an emergency declaration for Louisiana.
Biden is “closely tracking” the developments and will host a call with the Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator and governors of Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi to discuss preparations, press secretary Jen Psaki said Friday.
The administration, Psaki added, also is working to free up hospital beds and pre-position resources, in addition to sending a search-response team, 50 FEMA paramedics and 47 FEMA ambulances to assist with care.
ABC News’ Will McDuffie contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Ida strengthened into a Category 2 hurricane Saturday afternoon with maximum sustained winds of 100 mph.
The storm is forecast to intensify and become a Category 4 hurricane with 140 mph winds before landfall in Louisiana late Sunday.
Currently, Ida is moving northwest at 16 mph and its center is located about 290 miles south-southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River in southeastern Louisiana.
The National Hurricane Center issued a warning Saturday that “Preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion today” for areas under a hurricane warning.
“Ida is expected to be an extremely dangerous major hurricane when it reaches the coast of Louisiana. Hurricane-force winds are expected Sunday in portions of the Hurricane Warning area along the Louisiana coast, including metropolitan New Orleans,” NHC said in its latest update.
Satellite imagery is now showing a well-defined eye in the center of Hurricane Ida. Rapid strengthening is expected today and Ida will be a major category 4 Hurricane in less than 24 hours.
The latest forecast track has Ida coming ashore in southeast Louisiana on Sunday late afternoon/early evening as a Category 4 Hurricane.
Ida will be a tropical storm nearing the border of Mississippi by Monday morning.
On Saturday morning Ida crossed over western Cuba and entered the southern Gulf of Mexico, where it is expected to begin rapid intensification as it careens toward the Louisiana coast, according to the National Hurricane Center.
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell warned in a press conference Saturday, “If you’re going to leave, you need to do that now” or shelter in place.
She told locals to brace for damaging wind, heavy rain and tornadoes, saying, “I’m told that the storm in no way will be weakening.”
Collin Arnold, the city’s emergency preparedness director, urged people to be ready to shelter in place by midnight tonight if they intend to stay and ride out the storm and that extended power loss “is almost certain.”
At least 260 National Guard members will be on the ground in New Orleans by this evening, Lt. Col. Kenneth Baillie said Saturday.
Officials warned that Louisiana is much more prepared for Ida than it was for Katrina in 2005. Cantrell said she is “very confident” in a levee protection system that wasn’t in place back then.
Mandatory evacuations, for areas outside the levees, were ordered south of New Orleans, effective 3 p.m. local time Friday. In the rest of the parish, evacuations are voluntary.
“We’re not calling for a mandatory evacuation, because the time simply is not on our side,” Cantrell said Friday. “We do not want to have people on the road, and therefore in greater danger, because of the lack of time.”
Ida is forecast to reach major hurricane status and close in on the Louisiana coastline Sunday morning, making landfall between 5 and 11 p.m. By early Monday morning, Ida will rapidly weaken and move inland; however, much of Louisiana will still experience strong winds.
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said people who are evacuating should get to their destinations by Saturday evening.
“This could be a life-altering storm if you’re not prepared,” Edwards said at a Friday press conference.
“We need to take this storm very seriously. Now is not the time for jokes, for playing around,” Cantrell said. “We need to take it seriously, we need to reach out to our neighbors, our family members and our friends.”
Storm surge could reach 15 feet along parts of the Louisiana/Mississippi coastline and 6 feet on Lake Pontchartrain in New Orleans.
A storm surge watch is in effect along parts of the northern Gulf Coast, from Sabine Pass, Louisiana, through New Orleans to the Alabama-Florida border.
The dangerous storm surge will be exacerbated by extreme rainfall. Much of Louisiana and Mississippi could get 6 inches of rain, while parts of southeast Louisiana and the Mississippi could get 10 to 20 inches. Flash flooding is also possible through early next week.
Some COVID-19 testing and vaccine sites are closing early Friday due to the storm, the Louisiana Department of Health said.
The high number of COVID-19 patients in Louisiana also means the state will not be able to evacuate hospitals, the governor said. Cantrell also said New Orleans hospitals were not being evacuated at this time.
“We’ve been talking to hospitals about making all the preparations possible to make sure that their generators are working, that they have way more water on hand than normal,” Edwards said.
Health officials are asking people to avoid emergency departments throughout the storm if possible.
Hurricane warnings and states of emergency have been declared in New Orleans and Louisiana.
Ida should weaken to a tropical storm by Monday, but it’s forecast to move inland across Louisiana, with more potentially devastating downpours. About 20 inches of rain are expected, which means extreme floods are possible.
President Joe Biden has approved an emergency declaration for Louisiana.
Biden is “closely tracking” the developments and will host a call with the Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator and governors of Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi to discuss preparations, press secretary Jen Psaki said Friday.
The administration, Psaki added, also is working to free up hospital beds and pre-position resources, in addition to sending a search-response team, 50 FEMA paramedics and 47 FEMA ambulances to assist with care.
-ABC News’ Will McDuffie contributed to this report.
