(WASHINGTON) — The State Department announced Friday that it had made contact with 500 U.S. citizens who still needed to be evacuated from Afghanistan. Among them was the wife and children of Hewad, a U.S. citizen living in California.
“I’m worried. I’m worried about my family who are stranded in Kabul, Afghanistan, for the past two weeks,” Hewad, who asked ABC News to use only his first name, recently told ABC News. “We have been trying everything possible to get them out but there is no way.”
Hewad’s wife had taken their two young children to Afghanistan last month to visit a sick family member. When the Taliban reclaimed power earlier this month, they quickly became trapped, Hewad said.
“They are in danger. The whole family is in danger,” said Hewad. “Everyone [is] a citizen… I am afraid for their life. I may lose them or they may die.”
Hewad’s wife, who asked not to be named, went into hiding while he and attorney Richard Sterger worked from the U.S. to organize the family’s documents so that they could be evacuated safely.
ABC News and Hewad were able to speak to his wife on Thursday after the terrorist attack around the perimeter of Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul that killed 13 U.S. servicemen. The death toll of Afghan civilians is reported to be up to 170 and nearly 200 wounded according to an official at the ministry of public health who spoke on condition of anonymity with ABC News.
During the call, she told him the family had planned to go to the airport that day but ultimately decided not to
“We’re thankful that we didn’t go because they’re hurt,” she said.. “That’s why we decided to stay hidden.”
Amid the chaos, President Joe Biden said Monday during a press conference that he would not extend the Aug. 31 deadline to withdraw all U.S. troops. Hewad said that he and his wife were losing hope.
“We were hoping to get out, but now I don’t think we would be able to do that,” said Hewad’s wife.
Hours later, her outlook changed. On Friday, ABC News learned that the U.S. embassy in Afghanistan had been able to reach Hewad’s family and that they were given an evacuation plan. She and the children were able to get on a flight to safety.
(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.
Officials said the terror group 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 20, among scores of Afghan casualties.
When President Joe 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, he warned of the threat of attacks on the ground.
Here are the latest developments. All times Eastern:
Aug 30, 7:23 am
Americans are not being turned away at Kabul airport, ambassador says
The evacuation effort in Kabul remains a “high-risk operation,” according to Ross Wilson, the acting U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan. But he denied that Americans are being turned away by U.S. forces or embassy personnel at Hamid Karzai International Airport.
“This is a high-risk operation,” Wilson wrote on Twitter early Monday. “Claims that American citizens have been turned away or denied access to HKIA by Embassy staff or US Forces are false.”
Several Republican lawmakers and other critics have accused the Biden administration of refusing to admit U.S. citizens at the airport in Kabul and leaving them behind.
The U.S. Department of State said Sunday that 250 Americans were still seeking to get out of Afghanistan. They have been given specific instructions on when or how to enter Hamid Karzai International Airport, although that journey is still fraught and dangerous. All airport gates are closed and the security threat there remains high.
Aug 30, 1:16 am
US anti-missile system fired to intercept rockets at Kabul airport
There are no signs of casualties Sunday night after five rockets were fired toward Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, a U.S. official told ABC News.
The official said the U.S. military’s anti-projectile C-RAM fired to intercept the incoming rockets, though it is not yet clear how many it took out, if any.
The airport remains operational and flights are continuing, the official added.
Aug 30, 1:16 am
Multiple rockets fired in attack on Kabul airport
As many as five rockets were fired toward Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul Sunday evening, a U.S. official confirms to ABC News.
ABC News is still trying to assess whether there were any casualties inside the airport, whether the airport’s defensive counter rocket, artillery, and mortar system was used, and if there were any U.S. counter strikes against suspected launch positions.
Aug 29, 8:55 pm
Former acting FEMA administrator to lead Afghan refugee resettlement
Bob Fenton, the former acting Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator, is set to lead the efforts to resettle Afghans who are coming to the U.S., the Department of Homeland Security said Sunday.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas chose Fenton after President Joe Biden tasked the agency to lead the federal coordinating efforts.
The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement the resettling group will report directly to Mayorkas and will include a plethora of services from immigration processing to COVID-19 testing.
“The Department of Homeland Security is prepared to serve as the lead federal agency coordinating efforts across the federal government to welcome vulnerable Afghans to our Nation in a way that is consistent with our laws and our values,” Mayorkas said in a statement.
The “Unified Coordination Group” will work with Homeland Security’s partners in state and local governments, non-governmental organizations and the private sector.
(New York) — Bombings, death, and uncertainty — life in Afghanistan has become a nightmare for many Afghans looking to escape the country they call home.
Waheed Arian, a doctor and ex-refugee from Afghanistan, was born into war in 1983. He told ABC News that he didn’t know what “normal” life was as a child — and says he became numb to the daily rockets and bombs during the Soviet-Afghan war.
When he returned to Afghanistan, the civil war broke out in the early 1990s, bringing back harsh memories of his childhood.
“I became detached from reality,” said Arian, who now lives in the U.K. “I lost my appetite. I couldn’t sleep well and, on reflection, they were the signs of depression.”
The recent unrest back in Afghanistan has left many refugees and immigrants like Arian across the globe shaken, as they relive trauma from past violence in the country and experience renewed terror in the present.
Nightmares, stress and sweats continue to plague Arian, as he perpetually awaits news that his family is safe back home.
An explosion near Kabul Airport on Thursday left at least 170 Afghans and 13 U.S. service members dead. Terrorist group ISIS-K claimed responsibility for the bombing, which injured hundreds more.
However, since the Taliban seized the Afghan capital of Kabul on Aug. 14, tens of thousands of people have fled the country. U.S. troops and other Americans in the country are continuing to withdraw as the Aug. 31 deadline appears.
Living in a war zone can have severe, long-term impact on civilians’ mental health, experts say.
“Everyone [in Afghanistan] is exposed to chronic fear and chronic vulnerability and deprivation,” said Kenneth Miller, psychologist and researcher at the advocacy organization War Child Holland. “It keeps people in a state of high alert perpetually. That wears down our bodies, our minds, and it leaves us vulnerable to getting sick and developing anxiety disorders and depression.”
Mashal Rahmati, a Hazara-Afghan immigrant in the U.S., said her family and friends back home live in constant fear. Rahmati said they can’t sleep — worried about rumors of random home searches and memories of past attacks on Hazara people.
“It’s incredibly re-traumatizing to the degree that I don’t think anyone really quite could understand,” Rahmati said. “For a lot of Afghans, this is the apocalypse. Our world has ended. Every single Afghan family knows someone killed by the Taliban.”
Arian said that as a young adult, amid the civil war, he was given sedatives to treat his mental health issues, but said he had to stop taking them: “I couldn’t be sleepy — I had to be on my feet. I had to be alert.”
According to UNHCR, the Taliban’s takeover has caused up to 515,000 new refugees to flee, citing the Taliban’s history of brutal punishments, oppressive treatment of women and potential for retaliation against U.S and Afghan government allies.
Afghans comprise the largest refugee population in Asia and the second-largest refugee population in the world, UNHCR reports.
Left untreated, these mental health conditions can have many long-term effects, according to Miller, like the deterioration of one’s physical health, violence against others, inability to work, focus or eat, and more.
But the issue of mental health isn’t over once refugees have been settled, researchers say.
Refugees and immigrants have to abandon their belongings, their livelihoods, and their home countries. As thousands are scrambling to leave the country, many refugees and immigrants say they wish they did not have to leave.
“The people that live in Afghanistan love their country — they want to see Afghanistan prosper,” Rahmati said. “For the past 40 years, they’ve dedicated their blood, sweat and tears into building the country with international support … but right now it’s life or death for them.”
Resettlement efforts are just as important in mitigating mental health issues, Pieter Ventevogel, senior mental health and psychosocial support officer at UNCHR, told ABC News.
Refugees are often faced with stressors like “prolonged detention, insecure immigration status,” unemployment, poor housing, language barriers and isolation, the American Psychiatric Association reports, which can worsen or cause mental health issues.
Refugee camps aren’t always safe either — as a refugee in Pakistan, Arian was living in a tent with his family — where illnesses spread quickly and he fell ill with tuberculosis.
Compounded with xenophobia and Islamophobia, refugees face many barriers to success.
Refugee children, in particular, are at a high risk of developing “psychological disturbances,” experiencing constant instability and danger from a war zone to their new country, according to research from the University of Oxford.
Ventevogel said its up to resettlement services and agencies to make sure refugees have culturally competent and accessible health services. Mental health care and mental illness is stigmatized in some cultures, he said, and these services have to account for hesitation or resistance.
“It is much easier for an Afghan woman to go somewhere to talk and have tea with another woman rather than to be referred to mental health specialists in a hospital,” Ventevogel said. “Providing counseling in logical places of access, ideally with people who understand their culture and background and know the language.”
Ventevogel said refugees aren’t always set up with jobs, secure housing or language learning services — but these kinds of services can help them build stability in their new life, in their new country.
“The most important things are to give people the chance to develop their life as much as possible in the way they would like, a feeling of autonomy,” Ventevogel said.
Rahmati adds that international crisis lines, with multiple languages available, is also a lacking yet important resource.
For now, Afghans around the world are left awaiting solutions to the ongoing chaos.
“We feel like the world is silent,” Rahmati said. “These are not just anonymous crowds, these are our family members.”
(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.
(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 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.”
(NEW YORK) — U.S. Customs and Border Protection said a “very small number” of Afghan evacuees have been “flagged for concern” during their vetting and screening at military bases around the world.
“It’s exactly why CBP conducted careful and thorough vetting,” Keri Brady, the assistant director at CBP’s National Targeting Center, told law enforcement leaders around the country Friday on a call, a copy of which was obtained by ABC News.
CBP has deployed resources to overseas bases where Afghans are being transported to conduct vetting and screening using biometrics, along with counterparts from the FBI.
Representatives from the Department of Homeland Security, FBI and the State Department spoke on the call about the administration’s handling of Afghan nationals once they are in the United States.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said at Friday’s briefing that DHS would take the lead in helping Afghans settle in the U.S.
Officials on the call also detailed different threat scenarios that authorities are tracking domestically and abroad.
DHS said it is tracking people abroad who could use the relocation process as a way to get into the U.S.
John Cohen, the acting head of DHS’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis, said they are monitoring “whether individuals who are abroad or ISIS elements could use the relocation process as a way to introduce operatives intending to conduct an attack within the homeland.” In an effort to “counteract” this threat, Cohen said there is an extensive screening process.
Timothy Langan, the assistant director of the Counterterrorism Division, echoed Cohen’s concerns, saying they “can’t rule out” extremists trying to use the evacuations to come to the U.S.
“We [also] can’t rule out that this could be some type of additional motivator,” Langan explained.
The DHS is also monitoring if people in the U.S. are inspired by “narratives associated with al-Qaida, ISIS or other foreign terrorist group, and whether they would view the events occurring in Afghanistan as an opportunity to engage in violence here at home,” Cohen said.
Cohen told law enforcement leaders that there are domestic violent extremists lashing out because Afghans are coming to the U.S.
“In our analysis of online platforms commonly used by anti-government white supremacist and other domestic violent extremist organizations and groups, we are seeing several narrative trends emerge having to do with concerns [about] the relocation of Afghans to the United States,” Cohen said. “In it is an element of the great replacement concept, or a concept that would lead to a loss of control and authority by the white race, and there are concerns that those narratives may incite violent activities directed at immigrant communities, certain faith communities or even those who are relocated to the United States.”
Cohen also explained on the call that some extremists see what the Taliban did as a “success.”
“In those narrative streams, there have been commentary focusing on potential acts of violence directed at U.S. government, law enforcement and others who are considered to be symbols of the current government structure,” Cohen explained.
Langan said the FBI stood up a command post at its headquarters to detect any “potential national security or public safety concerns,” and added they are working 24/7.
The State Department has relocated over 100,000 individuals from Afghanistan and “many” in the last three weeks, according to Larry Bartlett, the agency’s director of refugee resettlement.
Officials also provided more details about the process of coming to the United States, saying in addition to opening up Washington Dulles International Airport and Philadelphia International Airport they expect to open more airports to Afghans soon. They did not go into further detail.
When Afghan evacuees arrive at a military base, they are tested for COVID-19, and if they test positive are quarantined on base. They are tested again once they arrive into the U.S., the acting associate director of Field Operations at United States Citizenship and Immigration Services said.
Upon arrival into the U.S., they are given the option to get a COVID-19 vaccine as well.
(KABUL, Afghanistan) — Sarina Faizy, 23, just graduated from William & Mary with a master’s in international law, and she said she’d hoped to celebrate with her family — instead she’s struggling to stay in contact with them.
Her family, including her six sisters, had been in hiding, looking for a way out of Afghanistan as President Joe Biden’s Aug. 31 deadline drew closer.
“They’re depressed, and they have a trauma, all Afghan people do,” Faizy told ABC News on Monday. “Right now, they’re kind of stuck in one place, and they don’t know what is going to happen next to them because of the Taliban.”
That was shortly before they escaped to Canada, mere days before a terror attack killed at least 13 U.S. service members and 170 Afghans near the airport in Kabul.
But many others may not be so lucky.
On Aug. 14, the Afghan government collapsed, overrun by the Taliban, after the U.S. military started pulling out, leaving thousands in the country with little protection under the new regime.
Since then, there’s been a rush to evacuate soldiers, personnel, contractors and Afghan citizens who helped Americans, plus other civilians. Over the last two weeks, some 114,000 people have been relocated.
“This is a wrong, wrong decision right now,” Faizy said, “not just because I’m an Afghan woman, no, because right now … it’s like more about the world.”
In February 2020, then-President Donald Trump agreed with the Taliban that the U.S. would pull out by May 1. Biden extended that, but Faizy said that’s still too soon.
“For 20 years, we struggle, we suffer, but we did we had some achievements some good achievements. I wouldn’t say that everything was perfectly good — we had corrupt people in the government — but you know, we were moving,” Faizy continued. “We said, like in English,’ baby steps, we were not ready to run.'”
Faizy was born and raised in Afghanistan, becoming at age 17 the youngest woman elected to the Kandahar City Council. She’s served as a leading spokesperson for women’s rights in her home country and now fears for their future.
“It’s going to be so difficult for them to, like, you know, put up with all new rules of the day — they say Sharia law, but it’s not a Sharia law, it’s their own,” she said of the Taliban.
She traveled to the United States in 2016 as part of the State Department’s International Visitor’s Program, and eventually she was selected for the Bush Fellowship program in Dallas for women from the Middle East. She said her experience as a young adult here is worlds different than her experiences in Afghanistan.
“I grew up in the war,” she said. In the U.S. “people that age, even my age, you know, people still, like, they don’t think about the world.”
Still, she remains hopeful.
“The good thing in Afghanistan is the unique culture,” she said. “No matter in what situation, we will be we will always keep that culture, no matter where we go, we will always have that culture because it’s in our blood.”
“I have a hope for a future of Afghanistan … women in the new generation, we still have a chance.”
(ETHIOPIA) — As chaos envelops Kabul after Afghanistan’s government collapsed and the Taliban seized control, horrific stories and heartbreaking images also pour out of Ethiopia. Some in the U.S. with a connection to the African country are feeling a call to action.
In Washington, D.C., home to the largest concentration of Ethiopians in the U.S. and the largest Ethiopian population outside Africa, there’s an intense debate over the war and who’s at fault.
“Tigray is part of Ethiopia. Tigrayans are Ethiopians until they decide otherwise. So any war, any suffering in Ethiopia, should be a pain to everybody,” Assefa Fisseha, a man who fled the country 20 years to begin a new life in America, told ABC News.
In Fisseha’s homeland, within the northern region of Tigray, millions are caught in the middle of civil war between Tigrayan defense forces and the Ethiopian government.
Each side has been accused of atrocities throughout the conflict, with systemic rape and starvation used as weapons of war, according to the United Nations, senior U.S. officials and monitoring groups like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. Roads, bridges, hospitals and farms have been destroyed, exacerbating the humanitarian catastrophe, according to aid groups.
But information can be hard to come by. Internet outages by the Ethiopian government have disconnected families inside and outside the country for days, weeks or even months at a time, according to Internet monitor NetBlocks.
With over 110 million people, Ethiopia is the second-most populous country in Africa. The conflict has left thousands dead and displaced roughly two million people in Tigray, according to the United Nations refugee agency.
“On the ground, what I’m really seeing is just hungry people there, people are extremely paranoid and protective,” Leoh Hailu-Ghermy, who made a two-day trek to the region to deliver supplies and aid to refugees, told ABC News.
Hailu-Ghermy is one of the voices in the movement to end the war many activists call a modern-day genocide.
Earlier this month, more apparent victims of the atrocities in the brutal, 10-monthlong civil war washed up on a riverbank in neighboring Sudan. Fifty bodies were believed to be Tigrayans from a nearby village, according to The Associated Press.
There have been reports of massacres, ethnic cleansing and widespread sexual assault by Ethiopian government troops, according to Amnesty International.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said the U.S. has seen “acts of ethnic cleansing,” but stopped short of calling the atrocities genocide — a specific legal term in international law. The Ethiopian government has fiercely denied such accusations.
“It’s really heartbreaking to see that people’s livelihoods can be stripped away from them in such an unfair way and that the world wouldn’t care because of the geography of that place or because of the race of those people,” Hailu-Ghermy said.
Just last week, the Biden administration called out the Ethiopian government for obstructing humanitarian aid, including convoys, saying aid workers will run out of food this week.
In May, President Joe Biden issued a lengthy statement, calling for a ceasefire, negotiations to halt the conflict and an end to human rights abuses, including the widespread sexual violence.
The Biden administration also tapped a special envoy for the region to push for a diplomatic solution — and fired a warning shot at the Ethiopian government, a critical U.S. partner, by imposing limited sanctions.
In May, the State Department said it imposed visa bans on officials from Ethiopia and neighboring Eritrea — whose military crossed the border to fight Tigrayan forces. Because visas are confidential by law, it did not say who was impacted but the U.S. Treasury slapped financial sanctions on Monday on General Filipos Woldeyohannes, the chief of staff of the Eritrean Defense Forces, accusing his forces of massacres, looting, rape, torture and extrajudicial killings of civilians.
Hailu-Ghermy and other advocates say they are looking for more action.
Ethiopian prime minister Abiy Ahmed was once seen as a popular reformer when he came into power in 2018, even winning the Nobel Peace Prize for ending a decades-long war with neighboring Eritrea. His election unseated the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, or TPLF, which dominated Ethiopia politics prior to his administration, and tensions between his federal government and their regional leaders exploded into conflict last November.
“Now that the conflict has been ongoing for several months, it produces its own logic. And so every atrocity, every retaliation begets another retaliation and unfortunately, another atrocity,” Aly Verjee, a senior adviser to the Africa program at the U.S. Institute of Peace, told ABC News.
Tigrayans celebrated when Abiy declared a ceasefire in June, but now their forces are on the offensive and Abiy responded with a call for all capable citizens to take up arms and join the fight to show patriotism.
“Ethiopians at home and abroad, your motherland calls upon you. History has shown that there is no force that can stand in our way when we say no more,” he said in a statement.
Analysts fear the conflict will spiral further out of control, putting hundreds of thousands on the brink of famine and potentially spilling over borders to Ethiopia’s neighbors.
“Let’s not forget that the reason the majority of Ethiopian Americans are in the United States is because, at one time or another, there was conflict in Ethiopia. Let’s not see another generation of Ethiopians feel that they have to leave the country because of conflict,” Verjee said.
ABC News Conor Finnegan contributed to this report.
