First evacuation flight for Afghan allies arrives in US

The Biden administration announced the arrival of hundreds of Afghan special immigrant visa applicants in the U.S. as questions remain about thousands more still waiting in Afghanistan.

The first flight from Kabul to Fort Lee, Va., transporting around 200 SIV applicants and their immediate family members, arrived on Thursday, administration officials said on a call with reporters. That group, which comprised around 700 individuals overall, has already completed security vetting and is eligible to be resettled in the United States.

The flights are part of a wider effort by the administration, dubbed “Operation Allies Refuge,” to evacuate Afghans who helped the U.S. military effort during the war there and are likely to face persecution at the hands of the Taliban after U.S. troops are gone.

But around 20,000 more Afghan translators and other U.S. employees remain in Afghanistan as the U.S. reaches the end stages of its withdrawal. Officials said they are looking to move people who are farther back in the application process to a safe third country “in the coming weeks.”