U.S. Military installations overseas scramble to accommodate thousands of evacuees from Afghanistan
Thousands of Afghans shell-shocked at the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, brought to Ramstein Air Base in Germany, where they await the next leg of their journey, to the United States.
After Kabul fell to the Taliban the United States began flying people out of Kabul at a rate of thousands a day. Many were brought to U.S. military installations in Qatar or Kuwait. But by the end of that week, those bases could not safely support anymore. Ramstein, which has served as a key transit point in Germany for troops and equipment throughout the 20-year war in Afghanistan, was called on for one more mission.
Afghans who traveled here are in purgatory, caught between the hell of Kabul and their uncertain new lives. They left with almost nothing, taking only what they could carry and wear.
Many of those in Ramstein had banked on President Joe Biden and his predecessors and worked with the U.S. military, government or government-funded programs during the 20 years after the previous Taliban government was toppled.
The U.S. is scrambling to get other bases ready to receive more evacuees. A senior State Department official said Monday that eight transit hubs were open across six countries, and U.S. allies and partners were hosting more than 17,000 evacuees. The official said the U.S. was expecting capacity to continue to increase as other countries opened transit hubs.
The operation at Ramstein will continue “as long as needed”, says base commander.