(NEW YORK) — As many children return to in-person learning and adults end a period of working from home, experts are concerned about the upcoming flu season and its implications for hospitals that are already pushed to the limits of capacity due to the COVID-19 delta variant.
Flu season usually runs from October to May, with experts suggesting the best time to get vaccinated is from early September to the end of October, although some major retail pharmacies have already begun advertising this year’s supply.
“We should always prepare for the flu season by planning to get vaccinated. This fall and winter there is likely to be circulation of COVID, influenza as well as other respiratory viruses,” said Dr. David Hirschwerk, an infectious disease specialist at Northwell Health in New York.
For some, that might mean getting vaccines for the flu and COVID-19 at the same time — either a booster shot or primary COVID-19 vaccination. Either way, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say it is safe to get the COVID and flu vaccines during the same visit.
“There is currently no contraindication to receiving both at the same time and for many people, this will be the most convenient way to handle it,” said Hirschwerk.
Experts say that with multiple viruses now circulating, every bit of protection helps.
Other seasonal respiratory viruses — such as RSV and adenovirus — have proven unpredictable, surging during the summer, a time typically outside their regular season.
By the same token, it’s not possible to predict the severity of the 2021-2022 flu season. Public health officials like to say if you’ve seen one flu season, you’ve seen one flu season — meaning every year starts and ends at different times, with different strains and different severities. Some worry the low number of cases last year during remote learning and work from home situations — as well as people wearing masks when they were in public — could be the calm before a very severe flu season this year.
Influenza activity during the 2020-2021 season was at a record low despite high levels of testing. Less than 1% of tested respiratory samples were positive for the flu. For comparison, the prior three flu seasons showed positive tests for influenza between 26% and 30%.
During the 2019-2020 season, 38 million people became sick with flu, resulting in more than 400,000 hospitalizations and 22,000 deaths.
A major contributor to the low cases of flu during 2020-2021 was a record number of flu vaccinations. An estimated 193.8 million doses were distributed in the U.S. during the 2020-2021 season.
Many primary care doctors, especially pediatricians, are playing catch-up when it comes to making sure that everyone is getting their routine vaccinations as the COVID pandemic resulted in many maintenance visits being canceled or rescheduled.
While children under 12 are not yet eligible for the COVID vaccine, those ages 6 months and older are strongly encouraged to get the flu vaccine. Many school districts insist on it.
“The first time a child gets the flu vaccine, it’s two doses, not just one, so people should plan for that,” said Dr. Eric Cioe-Pena, emergency medicine specialist at Staten Island University Hospital.
Annual flu vaccines are especially important for children ages 6 months to 4 years, adults aged 50 and older, nursing home residents, people with underlying health conditions such as heart disease and lung disease, people who are immunosuppressed and people who are pregnant.
By now, most people are aware that vaccines prevent serious illness for the individual getting the vaccine and for those around them who are more vulnerable to severe illness. In a typical year, hundreds of children die from the flu. The CDC estimates that an average of 36,000 adults have died of the flu each year over the past decade. The worst recent flu season was 2017-2018, when 61,000 people died, according to the CDC.
“It is very important that all children (6 months and older) receive the flu vaccine. This helps to reduce risk of infection, of severe complications from flu, and it protects the entire household and communities by reducing transmission to others,” said Hirschwerk.
To vaccinate as many individuals as possible, vaccine makers are producing large quantities of several types of flu vaccine. Flu vaccines are typically made using a process that involves eggs, but alternative vaccines will be available for people who have egg allergies.
Getting vaccination is a key step in preventing the flu and decreasing transmission, experts say. Continuing mitigation measures are also likely to keep any influenza surges at bay, especially as the country to struggles to cope with the devastation caused by COVID-19.
“Mask-wearing has significantly curbed the spread of influenza,” said Cioe-Pena. “Wash your hands, wipe down commonly touched surfaces like keyboards, phones and door knobs. Stay home when you are sick, and wear a mask.”
(KABUL, Afghanistan) — With the Taliban growing more violent and adding checkpoints near Kabul’s airport, an all-volunteer group of American veterans of the Afghan war launched a final daring mission on Wednesday night dubbed the “Pineapple Express” to shepherd hundreds of at-risk Afghan elite forces and their families to safety, members of the group told ABC News.
Moving after nightfall in near-pitch black darkness and extremely dangerous conditions, the group said it worked unofficially in tandem with the United States military and U.S. embassy to move people, sometimes one person at a time, or in pairs, but rarely more than a small bunch, inside the wire of the U.S. military-controlled side of Hamid Karzai International Airport.
The Pineapple Express’ mission was underway Thursday when the attack occurred in Kabul. Two suicide bombers believed to have been ISIS fighters killed at least 13 U.S. service members — 10 U.S. Marines, a Navy corpsman, an Army soldier and another service member — and wounded 15 other service members, according to U.S. officials.
There were wounded among the Pineapple Express travelers from the blast, and members of the group said they were assessing whether unaccounted-for Afghans they were helping had been killed.
As of Thursday morning, the group said it had brought as many as 500 Afghan special operators, assets and enablers and their families into the airport in Kabul overnight, handing them each over to the protective custody of the U.S. military.
That number added to more than 130 others over the past 10 days who had been smuggled into the airport encircled by Taliban fighters since the capital fell to the extremists on Aug. 16 by Task Force Pineapple, an ad hoc groups of current and former U.S. special operators, aid workers, intelligence officers and others with experience in Afghanistan who banded together to save as many Afghan allies as they could.
“Dozens of high-risk individuals, families with small children, orphans, and pregnant women, were secretly moved through the streets of Kabul throughout the night and up to just seconds before ISIS detonated a bomb into the huddled mass of Afghans seeking safety and freedom,” Army Lt. Col. Scott Mann, a retired Green Beret commander who led the private rescue effort, told ABC News.
After succeeding with helping dozens of Afghan commandos and interpreters get into the protective ring of the airport created by the 6,000 American troops President Joe Biden dispatched to the airfield after Kabul fell to the Taliban, the group initiated an ambitious ground operation this week aided by U.S. troops inside. The objective was to move individuals and families through the cover of darkness on the “Pineapple Express.” The week-long effort and Wednesday’s operation were observed by ABC News under the agreement of secrecy while the heart-pounding movements unfolded.
The operation carried out Wednesday night was an element of “Task Force Pineapple,” an informal group whose mission began as a frantic effort on Aug. 15 to get one former Afghan commando who had served with Mann into the Kabul airport as he was being hunted by the Taliban who were texting him death threats.
They knew he had worked with U.S. Special Forces and the elite SEAL Team Six for a dozen years, targeting Taliban leadership, and was, therefore, a high-value target for them, sources told ABC News.
Two months ago, this commando told ABC News he had narrowly escaped a tiny outpost in northern Afghanistan that was later overrun while awaiting his U.S. special immigrant visa to be approved.
The effort since he was saved in a harrowing effort, along with his family of six, reached a crescendo this week with dozens of covert movements coordinated virtually on Wednesday by more than 50 people in an encrypted chat room, which Mann described as a night full of dramatic scenes rivaling a “Jason Bourne” thriller unfolding every 10 minutes.
The small groups of Afghans repeatedly encountered Taliban foot soldiers who they said beat them but never checked identity papers that might have revealed them as operators who spent two decades killing Taliban leadership. All carried U.S. visas, pending visa applications or new applications prepared by members of Task Force Pineapple, they told ABC News.
“This Herculean effort couldn’t have been done without the unofficial heroes inside the airfield who defied their orders to not help beyond the airport perimeter, by wading into sewage canals and pulling in these targeted people who were flashing pineapples on their phones,” Mann said.
With the uniformed U.S. military unable to venture outside the airport’s perimeter to collect Americans and Afghans who’ve sought U.S. protection for their past joint service, they instead provided overwatch and awaited coordinated movements by an informal Pineapple Express ground team that included “conductors” led by former Green Beret Capt. Zac Lois, known as the underground railroad’s “engineer.”
The Afghan operators, assets, interpreters and their families were known as “passengers” and they were being guided remotely by “shepherds,” who are, in most cases their loyal former U.S. special operations forces and CIA comrades and commanders, according to chat room communications viewed by ABC News.
There was one engineer, a few conductors, as well as people who were performing intelligence-gathering duties. The intelligence was pooled in the encrypted chat group in real-time and included guiding people on maps to GPS pin drops at rally points for them to stage in the shadows and in hiding until summoned by a conductor wearing a green chem light, ABC News observed in the encrypted chat.
Once summoned, passengers would hold up their smartphones with a graphic of yellow pineapples on a pink field.
Before the deadly ISIS-K bombing on Thursday near the Abbey Gate of the airport known as HKIA, intelligence warnings were issued about possible improvised explosive device attacks by ISIS-K. Around 8 p.m. EST Wednesday, the shepherds reported in the chatroom, which was viewed by ABC News, one by one that their passenger groups maneuvering discreetly in the darkness toward rally points had suddenly gone dark and were unreachable on their cell phones.
“We have lost comms with several of our teams,” texted Jason Redman, a combat-wounded former Navy SEAL and author, who was shepherding Afghans he knew.
There was concern the Taliban had dropped the cell towers — but another Task Force Pineapple member, a Green Beret, reported that he learned the U.S. military had employed cell phone jammers to counter the IED threat at Abbey gate. Within an hour, most had reestablished communications with the “passengers” and the slow, deliberate movements of each group resumed under the ticking clock of sunrise in Kabul, ABC News observed in the encrypted chat.
“The whole night was a roller-coaster ride. People were so terrified in that chaotic environment. These people were so exhausted, I kept trying to put myself in their shoes,” Redman said.
Looking back at an effort that saved at least, by their count, 630 Afghan lives, Redman expressed deep frustration “that our own government didn’t do this. We did what we should do, as Americans.”
Many of the Afghans arrived near Abbey Gate and waded through a sewage-choked canal toward a U.S. soldier wearing red sunglasses to identify himself. They waved their phones with the pineapples and were scooped up and brought inside the wire to safety. Others were brought in by an Army Ranger wearing a modified American flag patch with the Ranger Regiment emblem, sources told ABC News.
Lois said the Task Force Pineapple was able to accomplish a truly historic event, by evacuating hundreds of personnel over the last week.
“That is an astounding number for an organization that was only assembled days before the start of operations and most of its members had never met each other in person,” Lois told ABC News.
Lois said he modeled his slow and steady system of maneuvering the Afghan families in the darkness after Harriet Tubman’s Underground Railroad for American slave escapees.
The Afghan passengers represented the span of the two-decade war there, and participants included Army Maj. Jim Gant, a retired Green Beret known as “Lawrence of Afghanistan,” who was the subject of a 2014 Nightline investigation.
“I have been involved in some of the most incredible missions and operations that a special forces guy could be a part of, and I have never been a part of anything more incredible than this,” Gant told ABC News. “The bravery and courage and commitment of my brothers and sisters in the Pineapple community was greater than the U.S. commitment on the battlefield.”
“I just want to get my people out,” he added.
Dan O’Shea, a retired SEAL commander, said he successfully helped his own group, which included a U.S. citizen who served as an operative and his Afghan father and brother in a nail-biting crucible as they walked on foot to one entry point after another for hours. They dodged Taliban checkpoints and patrols in order to get inside the U.S. side of the airport and on a plane out of Kabul.
“He was not willing to let his father and his brother behind; even it meant he would die. He refused to leave his family,” O’Shea, a former counterinsurgency adviser in Afghanistan, told ABC News. “Leaving a man behind is not in our SEAL ethos. Many Afghans have a stronger vision of our democratic values than many Americans do.”
It all began with trying to save one Afghan Commando, whose special immigrant visa was never finalized.
During an intense night last week involving coordination between Mann and another Green Beret, an intelligence officer, former aid workers and a staffer for Florida Republican and Green Beret officer Rep. Mike Waltz, the ad hoc team enlisted the aid of a sleepless U.S. Embassy officer inside the airport. He helped Marines at a gate to identify the former Afghan commando, who was caught in the throngs of civilians outside the airport and who said he saw two civilians knocked to the ground and killed.
“Two people died next to me — 1 foot away,” he told ABC News from outside the airport that night, as he tried for hours to reach an entry control point manned by U.S. Marines a short distance away.
With Taliban fighters mixing into the crowd of thousands and firing their AK-47s above the masses, the former elite commando was finally pulled into the U.S. security perimeter, where he shouted the password “Pineapple!” to American troops at the checkpoint. The password has since changed, the sources said.
Two days later, the group of his American friends and comrades also helped get his family inside the airport to join him with the aid of the same U.S. embassy officer.
Mann said the group of friends decided to keep going by saving his family and hundreds more of his elite forces comrades on the run from the Taliban.
Former deputy assistant secretary of defense and ABC News analyst Mick Mulroy is part of both Task Force Pineapple and Task Force Dunkirk, who are assisting former Afghan comrades.
“They never wavered. I and many of my friends are here today because of their bravery in battle. We owe them all effort to get them out and honor our word,” Mulroy said.
(NEW YORK) — The United States is facing a COVID-19 surge this summer as the more contagious delta variant spreads.
More than 633,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 while over 4.4 million people have died from the disease worldwide, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
Just 60.5% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Here’s how the news is developing Friday. All times Eastern:
Aug 27, 4:27 am
Houston sees 5-fold increase in COVID-19 vaccinations
COVID-19 vaccinations in Houston increased more than five-fold on Thursday as the city launched a new incentive program.
The Houston Health Department is now providing up to $150 in gift cards to get vaccinated against COVID-19. A total of 740 vaccine doses were administered at the health department’s eligible sites on Thursday, the first day of the program, marking a 51% increase over Wednesday’s total of 121 doses.
Of the total shots administered Thursday, 658 were first doses and 82 were second dose, according to a press release from the health department.
Aug 26, 10:29 pm
SCOTUS suspends eviction moratorium
The U.S. Supreme Court suspended the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s nationwide eviction moratorium in an unsigned, 6-3 opinion Thursday night
“It is indisputable that the public has a strong interest in combating the spread of the COVID–19 Delta variant. But our system does not permit agencies to act unlawfully even in pursuit of desirable ends,” the court wrote. “It is up to Congress, not the CDC, to decide whether the public interest merits further action here.”
“If a federally imposed eviction moratorium is to continue, Congress must specifically authorize it,” it continued. “The application to vacate stay presented to THE CHIEF JUSTICE and by him referred to the Court is granted.”
Liberal justices Sonia Sotomayor, Stephen Breyer and Elena Kagan dissented.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki lamented the Supreme Court’s ruling, saying the CDC moratorium “saved lives by preventing the spread of the COVID-19 virus.”
“As a result of this ruling, families will face the painful impact of evictions, and communities across the country will face greater risk of exposure to COVID-19,” Psaki said in a statement, before reiterating President Joe Biden’s call for states, localities, landlords and local courts to do what they can to prevent evictions.
The Biden administration has repeatedly called on Congress to act in regard to the eviction moratorium, but Republicans have opposed the proposals.
The CDC had issued a 60-day extension to the moratorium the first week in August after the previous one expired July 31.
Aug 26, 6:37 pm
Every state now reporting high community transmission
Every state in the country is now reporting high community transmission of COVID-19, according to newly updated federal data.
In mid-June, no states were reporting high transmission, and just six states were reporting substantial transmission. Now, 10 weeks later, all 50 states are in that category, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The development comes as the delta variant has also rapidly spread. In June, the highly contagious variant accounted for just 26.4% of all new COVID-19 cases in the U.S.; today, it accounts for nearly 99%, according to the CDC.
Aug 26, 4:07 pm
US reporting more than 800 deaths per day, marking highest average in 5 months
The U.S. is continuing to experience its steepest increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations since the winter of 2020, with more than 101,000 patients now in hospitals, according to federal data. This marks the highest number of patients in seven months.
Eight weeks ago, there were under 12,000 patients receiving care.
The country’s daily death average has increased to more than 800 deaths per day. This is a 317% jump in the last seven weeks and marks the highest average since mid-March 2021.
(NEW YORK) — Tropical Storm Ida, which formed Thursday, is forecast to strengthen into a hurricane before targeting Louisiana this weekend.
Ida is set to hit the Cayman Islands and Cuba as a tropical storm on Friday morning, delivering up to 20 inches of rain. Tropical storm warnings are in effect for both locations.
By Friday night into Saturday morning, Ida is expected to move into the Gulf of Mexico and rapidly strengthen into a hurricane.
From Saturday morning to Sunday morning, Ida is forecast to grow even stronger, with winds likely approaching those of a Category 3 hurricane, which is considered a major hurricane.
Landfall is forecast for Sunday afternoon or evening, west of New Orleans and east of Lake Charles, though effects could be felt as early as Saturday night. Louisiana residents should expect storm surge up to 11 feet, 15 inches of rain, flash flooding and hurricane-force winds of up to 115 miles per hour.
After making landfall, Ida is expected to move north inland and could bring more heavy rain to middle Tennessee, which was hit by deadly floods last week.
The National Weather Service has issued a hurricane watch for parts of Louisiana and all of the Mississippi coast, including the cities of New Orleans and Biloxi. Those areas could see hurricane conditions within 36 to 48 hours.
Meanwhile, a tropical storm watch is in effect for parts of Mississippi and the entire Alabama coastline. A storm surge watch has also been issued for the entire coastline of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, including the cities of Lake Charles, New Orleans, Biloxi and Mobile.
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards declared a state of emergency Thursday evening as the threat of Ida looked more certain.
“Unfortunately, all of Louisiana’s coastline is currently in the forecast cone for Tropical Storm Ida, which is strengthening and could come ashore in Louisiana as a major hurricane as Gulf conditions are conducive for rapid intensification,” Edwards said in a statement. “Now is the time for people to finalize their emergency game plan, which should take into account the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.”
After landfall, Ida likely will move north into Tennessee with flooding rainfall. Areas in Tennessee hit with deadly, catastrophic flooding this weekend could suffer further destruction.
(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 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.”
(KABUL, Afghanistan) — When Waheed Arian heard of the two bombings out Kabul’s airport in Afghanistan, he rushed to call his family members to ensure that they were safe. Arian is a doctor and ex-refugee, who fled Afghanistan during the Taliban’s rule in 1999, and now lives in the United Kingdom.
With sweaty palms, a racing heart and the memories of death and destruction from his time in Afghanistan as a child, he’s wary of what the future might hold for him and his family.
“When I get off the phone, I break down in tears because I feel helpless,” Arian told ABC News. “This is the case for so many Afghans whose families are over there. … It haunts you forever.”
The bombings, for which the terrorist group ISIS-K has claimed responsibility, left at least 60 Afghan civilians dead, as well as at least 13 U.S. service members, according to the Pentagon.
The attack on Hamid Karzai International Airport, the main source of hope for those trying to escape the city and seek refuge elsewhere, has left many Afghans feeling desperate.
Waiting for news from home
Shabnam, who asked ABC News to use only her first name for the safety of her family in Afghanistan, said she can’t concentrate. The ex-refugee, who is now a citizen living in the U.S., said she is numb and can’t focus on her work, her schooling or her responsibilities as she awaits news about her family’s fate.
When Shabnam was asked if her family was safe, she responded: “What does that mean? If I say that they are safe, they’re safe as prisoners. … The banks are closed. The businesses are closed. Everything is closed, and they don’t have freedom of speech anymore.”
Shabnam is calling on international forces to step up and help the Afghan people before the country reverts back to its old ways, particularly calling on the U.S. to take the lead.
“It is their responsibility as our leaders, the responsibility of the international community not to just not watch and be silent,” Shabnam said.
Uncertainty plagues Afghan families
With the Taliban taking over Afghanistan before the United States’ Aug. 31 deadline to withdraw troops, many citizens fear what could come of their country and their livelihood in the Middle Eastern nation.
Activist and Afghan journalist Mahbouba Seraj returned to Afghanistan from exile in 2003 with the mission to advance women’s rights in the country. In an interview with ABC News Live, she said she made a commitment to Afghanistan to continue to move the country forward and won’t leave the country despite the danger.
During the interview, her words were interrupted by a blast, later determined to be the U.S. military disposing of equipment before exiting the country.
“I cannot leave Afghanistan at this point,” said Seraj. “Everybody worked together to make this country really the way it is. … We all worked very hard, and then it disappeared, and I knew that I have to stick around. I have to stick around to prove it to myself, to prove it to whoever, as far as my young girls.”
Many women in the country fear that the Taliban will revert to the oppressive tactics they used when they ruled in the 1990s, like keeping women at home, out of work and out of schools.
Many also fear that the militant group will retaliate against citizens with connections to America, who’ve worked with the U.S. or Afghan government or who have criticized the Taliban in the past. Under the Taliban’s previous rule, citizens could be stoned to death, have their hands cut off or be publicly executed for violating the Taliban’s laws.
For Arian, the violence Thursday reminded him of the civil war he experienced as a child, when the Soviet Union withdrew from the country and mujahedeen forces turned on each other in 1992.
“Bullets flying, rockets flying and we had to just leave everything, abandon the house,” said Arian. “The schools were destroyed, the hospitals were destroyed, the whole infrastructure was gone.”
Arian believes he’s echoing the voice of the millions of Afghans who’ve lived through the civil war.
“They remember — that’s why they’re physically, mentally tired,” Arian said. “They’re exhausted from running. They’re exhausted from refugee camps, they’re on high alert constantly. And now we see today that there’s nowhere safe for them.”
The future of Afghanistan
For many, the future of Afghanistan and its people hangs in the balance as U.S. troops leave the country behind. While many continue to flock to airports and plan escape routes out of the country, some are hunkering down, determined to rescue the nation they call home.
Arian’s family is divided — his father wants to stay and his siblings want to flee.
“He just told me, ‘Son, I’m tired of running. I’ve spent my entire life running. I just want to die in peace here if there is any peace,'” said Arian. “When I speak to some of my sisters, they’re fearful for their lives. They don’t know whether we would go back again to the civil war that most of them had witnessed along with me, and they have children now.”
Seraj, who has dedicated her life to activism and bettering the conditions of Afghan women for decades, said that all her fears are coming true.
Without plans to leave Kabul, she’s faced with ongoing questions about what’s next for the nation.
“The control is getting out of everybody’s hands,” Seraj said. “We’ve lost a lot of our people. Our soldiers are no longer what they were and keeping us safe. The U.S. Army is no longer there. Nobody’s there. What is going to be happening?”
(KABUL, Afghanistan) — An explosion that killed at least 13 U.S. service members in Afghanistan Thursday was part of a “complex” attack near the Kabul airport, the Pentagon said.
Two ISIS suicide bombers detonated in the vicinity of both the Kabul airport’s Abbey Gate and the adjacent Baron Hotel, according to Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, the commander of U.S. Central Command.
The U.S. service members killed in the explosion near the Abbey Gate included 10 Marines, one Army, one to be determined and one Navy hospital corpsman, or medic, a U.S. official confirmed to ABC News. A 13th service member injured in the attack at Abbey Gate later succumbed to his wounds, a U.S. Central Command spokesperson said Thursday evening.
“We can confirm at this time 10 Marines were killed in the line of duty at Hamid Karzai International Airport. Additionally, several more were wounded and are being cared for at this time,” Maj. Jim Stenger, Marine Corps spokesperson, said in a statement Thursday night.
Another 18 service members were injured in the attack, U.S. Central Command said, up from the 15 initially confirmed by the command.
“We’re still working to calculate the total losses,” McKenzie said during a briefing at the Pentagon Thursday afternoon. “We just don’t know what that is right now.”
The attack marks the third-deadliest single day for American forces in Afghanistan in the 20-year war.
The injured troops are being evacuated from Afghanistan on C-17s equipped with surgical units.
At least 60 Afghan civilians were killed and over 140 others injured in the attack, according to the Associated Press.
The “complex” attack unfolded Thursday evening local time in Kabul, with one explosion at the Abbey Gate causing “a number of US and civilian casualties” and another explosion near the Baron Hotel, a short distance from the gate, Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said.
“The attack on the Abbey Gate was followed by a number of ISIS gunmen who opened fire on civilians and military forces,” McKenzie said.
McKenzie said it was his “working assumption” that a suicide bomber was going through the Abbey Gate — being searched and checked by U.S. service members — when the person detonated the vest. The general did not know the size of the bomb or have much information about the explosion near the Baron Hotel. No bomber got onto airport grounds, McKenzie said.
“Clearly there had been a failure” from the Taliban forces checking people outside the airport, the general said.
Hours after the explosions, the militant group ISIS-K, which stands for Islamic State Khorasan Province, claimed credit for the attacks, confirming a suicide bombing.
According to a translation from SITE intelligence group, the Islamic State’s Amaq News Agency issued a report on the attack and provided a photo of the bomber.
The message said the Khorasan Province fighter overcame all security fortifications and reached a distance of “no more than five meters from the American forces.” The fighter detonated his explosive belt, killing 60 and wounding over 100 others, the militant group wrote, citing “military sources,” according to SITE.
McKenzie said the U.S. “will go after” those responsible for the attack “if we can find who’s associated with this,” and that “we believe it is their desire to continue those attacks.”
President Joe Biden reiterated that message during remarks on the attacks Thursday.
“To those who carried out this attack, as well as anyone who wishes America harm, know this: We will not forgive. We will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay,” he said.
Prior to the explosions, the U.S. Embassy had warned citizens on Wednesday to leave the airport.
Acting U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Ross Wilson, on the ground in Kabul, told ABC’s “Good Morning America” Thursday morning before the explosions that the threat was “clearly regarded as credible, as imminent, as compelling.”
The airport has been the site of tragedy and chaos for days as people rushed to be evacuated since Afghanistan’s government’s collapsed and the Taliban seized control.
Approximately 104,000 people have been evacuated since the effort began on Aug. 14, the White House said Thursday, with a withdrawal deadline set for Aug. 31. The U.S. State Department said Thursday afternoon it believes around 1,000 Americans remain in Afghanistan, a majority of whom want to leave.
Biden said the U.S. “will not be deterred by terrorists” and vowed to pull the remaining Americans and allies out of Afghanistan.
“These ISIS terrorists will not win. We will rescue the Americans in there. We will get our Afghan allies out,” he said Thursday. “And our mission will go on. America will not be intimidated.”
Biden called the service members killed in the attack “heroes who have been engaged in a dangerous, selfless mission to save the lives of others.”
The Pentagon is going through the next-of-kin notification process. Once that is completed, the president will call the troops’ families, White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Thursday.
“We have some sense … what the families of these brave heroes are feeling today. You get this feeling like you’re being sucked into a black hole in the middle of your chest. There’s no way out,” Biden said. “My heart aches for you.”
-ABC News’ Ben Gittleson, Conor Finnegan, Luis Martinez and Cindy Smith contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced an investigation into an outbreak of Salmonella that may be linked to Italian-style meats.
They reported 36 illnesses and 12 hospitalizations across 17 states and found that most people ate Fratelli Beretta brand uncured antipasto trays before they became ill, according to a release on Thursday.
This does not include Italian-style meats sliced at a deli.
No deaths have been reported.
The CDC is advising people not to eat Fratelli Beretta brand pre-packaged uncured antipasto trays, including uncured salami, prosciutto, coppa or soppressata. The trays were sold nationwide and have “best by” dates on or before Feb. 11, 2022.
The investigation is ongoing to determine if additional products are linked to illness. ABC News has reached out to Fratelli Beretta for comment, but has not heard back at this time.
(RAMSTEIN, Germany) — In one of the largest airlift operations in history, Ramstein, Germany, has become the central hub to evacuate and process Afghan evacuees. According to the U.S. Air Force, the vast majority of people fleeing Afghanistan will come through Ramstein, and the base has already received at least 15,000 people as of this morning.
Upon arrival to Ramstein, refugees are immediately given medical aid, food and shelter while they undergo a final security check. Air Force officials say the goal is to get people in and out as quickly as possible, and aim to have people on their way to America within three days.
According to an internal report obtained by ABC News on Monday, officials estimate that some 20% of evacuees at Ramstein lacked documentation.
Top U.S. general in Europe Tod Wolters spoke with Pentagon reporters Wednesday and said that overall European bases could potentially process as many as 25,000 evacuees.
“We’ve received 55 flights at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, and we currently have 5783 evacuees on deck at Ramstein. We’ve received three flights at Naval Air Station Sigonella,” said Wolters on Wednesday.
The makeshift tent camp in Ramstein has the capacity to hold 10,000 evacuees, and 7,000 refugees have already been processed, according to Walters.
But, some are concerned that the increasing number of evacuees will overwhelm resources and facilities at the Ramstein base in coming days.
In addition to Ramstein, Germany has also agreed to let the U.S. use the nearby U.S. Army garrison in Kaiserslautern and a joint training facility in Grafenwoehr in eastern Germany to house evacuees, ABC News reported on Monday.
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden had a clear and directed message for the assailants responsible for the deadly terror attack outside of Hamid Karzai International Airport on Thursday, and for anyone else who might be planning an attack.
“To those who carried out this attack, as well as anyone who wishes America harm, know this, we will not forgive. We will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay,” he said.
“These ISIS terrorists will not win,” he added. “We will rescue the Americans in there. We will get our Afghan allies out. And our mission will go on. America will not be intimidated.”
Biden addressed the nation after 12 American service members were killed and 15 wounded, among scores of Afghan casualties in the attack outside the airport. The Pentagon has said security threats remain.
“A tough day,” Biden began. “This evening in Kabul, as you all know, a terrorist attack — that we’ve been talking about and worried about, that the intelligence community has assessed, has undertaken — an attack by a group known as ISIS-K took the lives of American service members standing guard at the airport and wounded several others seriously.”
“I’ve been engaged all day, in constant contact with the military commanders here in Washington and the Pentagon, as well in Afghanistan and Doha. And my commanders in Washington, in the field, have been on this with great detail, and you’ve had a chance to speak to some so far,” he said. “The situation on the ground is still evolving, and I’m constantly being updated.”
Pentagon officials confirmed earlier that two ISIS suicide bombers detonated in the vicinity of the Abbey Gate at the airport in Kabul, where U.S. Marines were conducting security checks of potential evacuees, and in the vicinity of the nearby Baron Hotel, a short distance from the Abbey Gate.
A U.S. official confirmed later that the 12 U.S. military service members killed in Thursday’s attack included 11 Marines and one Navy hospital corpsman, or medic. It appears that the 15 other service members who were injured in the attack were also Marines.
“These American service members who gave their lives, that’s an overused word, but it’s appropriate here, were heroes,” Biden said from the White House. “Heroes who have been engaged in a dangerous, selfless mission to save the lives of others.”
Before taking questions from reporters, Biden asked to be joined in a moment of silence “for all those in uniform and out of uniform, military and civilian, who have given the last full measure of devotion.”
By Thursday afternoon, ISIS-K, an ISIS affiliate in Afghanistan, claimed credit for the attack. It comes days after Biden warned from the White House of on-the-ground security threats from the terrorist group known as the “sworn enemy of the Taliban.”
“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,” he said at the time.
