More Afghans evacuated from Kabul arrive at US airport

By Dildar Baykan Atalay

WASHINGTON (AA) – Thousands of more Afghans evacuated from Afghanistan's capital Kabul arrived at Dulles International Airport in Virginia, near Washington D.C., on Saturday.

White House Principal Deputy spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said on Twitter that around 4,200 people were evacuated from Kabul in the last 12 hours.

Afghans brought to the largest airport in the region are being transferred to military bases for further procedures following health and safety checks.

Anadolu Agency journalists, capturing the scenes of new arrivals, noticed that they had armbands with "Hello" sign written on it.

Meanwhile, Afghans evacuated from Kabul were kept on board the planes or on the runway at Dulles Airport for nearly 20 hours without food or water, drawing criticism.

Spokespersons for the Department of Defense and the White House said that this was due to the intensity of the Border and Customs Control Unit teams and that they were trying to fix the problems.

The Taliban, which took over the Afghan capital on Aug. 15, have set a deadline of next Tuesday, Aug. 31 for foreign forces to leave the country.

Since the start of the evacuation process from Afghanistan on Aug. 14, the US administration has evacuated nearly 109,200 people from the country, Jean-Pierre said.

*Writing and contributions by Jeyhun Aliyev