The Pentagon said Monday that the U.S. has evacuated or facilitated the evacuation of approximately 37,000 people from Afghanistan since August 14, with about 10,400 of them airlifted out over the weekend.
The weekend tally represents an apparent acceleration in the military’s colossal efforts to relocate as many people as possible amid a Taliban takeover. In addition, coalition forces evacuated approximately 5,900 people over the weekend.
Since the end of July, the U.S. has relocated approximately 42,000 people. There are still thousands more awaiting evacuation.
The Pentagon said that evacuees are flying from Kabul to temporary safe haven locations across the Middle East and Europe, including U.S. installations in Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Italy, Spain and Germany.
Afghan nationals arriving in the United States will be housed at Ft. McCoy in Wisconsin, Ft. Lee in Virginia, Joint Base McGuire Dix Lakehurst in New Jersey and Ft. Bliss in Texas.
The latest update on evacuation efforts comes as U.S. and NATO coalition forces rush to airlift thousands of people out of the country ahead of a self-imposed deadline to depart Afghanistan in eight days.
