US to evacuate Afghans who supported their troops

Pakistani border guards cordon off the area as stranded people gather near a border with Afghanistan in Chaman on Thursday. Pic/AFP

The United States is launching an operation to evacuate Afghans who helped US troops during the war in Afghanistan and are facing threats to their lives from the Taliban, the Biden administration announced on Wednesday.

Flights out of Afghanistan for those who are already in the process of obtaining special immigrant visas (SIVs) will start in the last week of July, The Hill quoted a senior administration official in a statement. No further details on when the evacuations will start will be released, the statement said, citing "operational security."

"At President Joe Biden's direction, the United States is launching Operation Allies Refuge to support relocation flights for interested and eligible Afghan nationals and their families who have supported the United States and our partners in Afghanistan and are in the SIV application pipeline," the official said.

Afghanistan has witnessed a spike in violence as the Taliban has intensified its offensive against civilians and Afghan security forces with the complete pullback of foreign forces just a few weeks away.

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