Several countries have conducted evacuation flights for their residents and passport holders since the Taliban assumed control of Afghanistan. While the world applauds this humanitarian assistance, some individuals may be taking advantage of the opportunity to spread terrorism.
Now, US officials have issued a warning that almost 100 Afghan evacuees are on intelligence agency watch lists and may be linked to terrorist organizations such as the Islamic State.
A US official verified to Defense One that security screeners at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar discovered that at least one of the Afghans evacuated from Kabul Airport has ties to ISIS.
Furthermore, according to a second official, the Defense Department’s Automated Biometric Identification System has recognized up to 100 of the 7,000 Afghans evacuated as potential Special Immigration Visa holders as potential matches to intelligence agency watch lists.
According to the US government, all Afghan evacuees are vetted by US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) using facial recognition, fingerprint, and iris scanners, and their information is compared to law enforcement databases.
However, according to certain media accounts, the CBP is having trouble keeping up with the influx of evacuees. “On the ground, CBP has old technology that they don’t know how to use or integrate. And there aren’t enough people to process all of the evacuees,” a government official told a western news organization.
However, Americans are left behind while we remove terrorists!
Since Aug. 14, more than 70,000 people have been evacuated from Kabul, including American citizens, NATO personnel, and Afghans in danger, according to Biden. Biden has stated that the US will evacuate any American citizen who wishes to leave, and officials have stated that as many at-risk Afghans as possible will be evacuated.
According to Pentagon spokesman John Kirby, the Pentagon believes it will be able to evacuate all Americans who want to leave by August 31. US officials say 4,000 Americans have been evacuated so far, but they don’t know how many are still in the country because not all have registered with the US embassy.
