The U.S. has halted all U.S.-bound flights of Afghan evacuees from two main bases overseas after discovering a limited measles outbreak among Afghans arriving in the United States, a hitch that American officials warned will have a severe impact on an often-troubled U.S.-run evacuation.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection made the decision on the recommendation of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to halt the flights from U.S. bases in Germany and Qatar, according to a U.S. government document seen Friday by The Associated Press.
The document cited unspecified 'health safety concerns.'
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the temporary halt stemmed from discovery of measles among four arrivals in the United States.
The government document viewed by the AP said the halt would 'severely impact' operations at Ramstein Air Base in Germany and have an 'adverse effect' on the nearly 10,000 evacuees, many of whom it said have been there more than 10 days and are increasingly fatigued.
The CDC halted evacuation flights out of Afghanistan because of a measles outbreak as the Biden administration released photos of the sprawling tent city at Fort Bliss, New Mexico, where thousands of refugees are being housed
Afghan refugees line up for food in a dining hall at Fort Bliss
A child walks through Fort Bliss, where Afghan refugees are being housed, in New Mexico
The Biden administration provided the first public look inside the US military base where Afghans airlifted out of Afghanistan are screened, amid questions about how the government is caring for the refugees and vetting them
It was the latest problem in the Biden administration's rushed, chaotic and often violence-plagued evacuation of tens of thousands of Afghans and Americans and other foreigners from Afghanistan, which peaked with a more than two-week military airlift out of the Kabul airport.
The Department of Homeland Security has flagged 44 Afghan evacuees as possible national security risks during the past two weeks, a new report revealed on Friday.
Of the more than 60,000 evacuees who have arrived on U.S. soil since Aug. 17, DHS vetting records reviewed by The Washington Post show 13 Afghans remain in U.S. Customs and Border Protection custody awaiting additional screening, which includes FBI interviews.
The Biden administration on Friday provided the first public look inside a U.S. military base where Afghans airlifted out of Afghanistan are being screened, amid questions about how the government is caring for the refugees and vetting them.
The first aerial photos also captured the extent of the sprawling tent city in the Fort Bliss outpost in New Mexico where thousands of refugees are being house.
A soldier stands inside a tent lined with sleeping cots which are piled with a pillow and blankets as Afghan refugees arrive
A man walks with a child through Fort Bliss in New Mexico, Friday, Sept. 10, 2021
The three-hour tour at Fort Bliss Army base in El Paso, Texas, was the first time the media has been granted broad access to one of the eight U.S. military installations housing Afghans
A child looks over artwork made by children in a tent at Fort Bliss
A child carries food from a dining hall at the camp in New Mexico. Each Afghan refugee was provided with a bag of toiletries
'Everyone Afghan who is here with us has endured a harrowing journey and they are now faced with the very real challenges of acclimating with life in the United States,' Liz Gracon, a senior State Department official, told reporters.
The three-hour tour at Fort Bliss Army base in El Paso, Texas, was the first time the media has been granted broad access to one of the eight U.S. military installations housing Afghans.
But even so, reporters, including those with The Associated Press, were not allowed to talk with any evacuees or spend more than a few minutes in areas where they were gathered, with military officials citing 'privacy concerns.'
Nearly 10,000 Afghan evacuees are staying at the base while they undergo medical and security checks before being resettled in the United States.
The operation was described by officials at the Department of Homeland Security and Department of State as a 'historic' and 'unprecedented' effort to facilitate the relocation of a huge number of refugees in less than a month´s time.
On Friday, Afghan children with soccer balls and basketballs played outside large white tents. Families walked down a dirt driveway with stacks of plastic food containers piled under their chins and Coca-Cola cans under their arms.
One young girl, still wearing dirty clothing, cried in the middle of the road after her food spilled and soldiers attempted to help her. Inside the containers, which refugees had spent around 15 minutes in line for in the blistering sun, were traditional Afghan meals of basmati rice and hearty stew.
That shut down Aug. 30, when American troops withdrew.
Thousands of Afghan evacuees remain in third-country transit sites, before being moved to the United States or other countries.
The halting of the flights is a problem for the United States in part because many of the evacuees already have been at the Ramstein base longer than the 10-day limit Germany set in allowing the U.S. to use the country as a transit site.
Germany and Qatar, along with Spain, Kosovo, Kuwait and other countries, agreed to temporarily host U.S. processing sites for evacuees after Kabul fell, after allies initially balked over worries of getting stuck with U.S. security problems.
Processing at many of the transit sites largely appears to be taking place in a peaceful and orderly fashion.
That follows a suicide bombing and other attacks and violent incidents during the U.S.-run evacuation in Kabul, which killed more than 180 Afghans and 13 U.S. service members.
National Security Council spokeswoman Emily Horne said Friday that 32 Americans and U.S. green-card holders had left Afghanistan on Friday, 19 on a Qatar Airways flight and 13 others by land.
It was only the second such evacuation flight allowed by the Taliban since U.S. troops left.
The U.S. government believes about 100 American citizens remain in Afghanistan, a State Department spokeswoman, Jalina Porter, said.
It was the same number the U.S. had given before the latest evacuation flights took out Americans.
Porter said she could not immediately explain why the number had not changed.
The three-hour tour at Fort Bliss Army base in El Paso, Texas, was the first time the media has been granted broad access to one of the eight U.S. military installations housing Afghans
Afghan refugees are processed inside Hangar 5 at the Ramstein U.S. Air Base in Germany Wednesday. The Associated Press reported Friday that flights into the United States have been halted due to a measles outbreak
A government document viewed by the AP said the halt would 'severely impact' operations at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, where refugees await processing
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