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Updated August 23rd, 2021 at 13:43 IST

US ropes in commercial airlines for Afghan evacuation as ISIS-K threat looms

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III ordered the Commander of US Transportation Command to activate Stage I of the Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF).

Reported by: Zaini Majeed
US
IMAGE: Twitter/@POTUS/@USMC/@united | Image:self
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United States federal government on Sunday activated the Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF) and Pentagon ordered commercial airlines to help the Department of Defense with the evacuations of Afghan nationals and US personnel from Kabul. Biden administration directed the American, Delta, Atlas, Omni, Hawaiian, United aircraft to operate flights to bring US military troops, American civilians, and Afghan citizens from the war-ravaged Afghanistan back to the US in an attempt to expedite the evacuations of those stranded in Kabul. 

“Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III has ordered the Commander of US Transportation Command to activate Stage I of the Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF). CRAF activation provides the Department of Defense access to commercial air mobility resources to augment our support to the Department of State in the evacuation of US citizens and personnel, Special Immigrant Visa applicants, and other at-risk individuals from Afghanistan. ” —US Department of Defense said in an official release on Aug. 22, Sunday. 

At least commercial aircraft have been activated three each from American Airlines, Atlas Air, Delta Air Lines, and Omni Air; two from Hawaiian Airlines; and four from United Airlines. “The Department does not anticipate a major impact to commercial flights from this activation,” the US Department of Defence stated. The commercial aircraft, as per orders of the Pentagon will not enter Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul but will be used for carrying out the onward movements of passengers from temporary safe havens and interim staging bases. This would not only increase the number of refugees that can be safely evacuated out of Afghanistan but also the military aircraft will be able to focus on operations in and out of Kabul. 

[Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force guide evacuees on to a US Air Force Boeing C-17 Globemaster III during an evacuation at Kabul. Credit: Twitter/ @USMC]

“CRAF is a National Emergency Preparedness Program designed to augment the Department’s airlift capability and is a core component of USTRANSCOM’s ability to meet national security interests and contingency requirements,” US DoD wrote. It continued, “Under CRAF, the commercial carriers retain their Civil Status under FAA regulations while USTRANSCOM exercises mission control via its air component, Air Mobility Command.” 

White House will consider activating the Civil Reserve Air Fleet created in 1952 in the wake of the post-World War II Berlin Airlift to dispatch 20 commercial jets to Kabul. It is also expected to increase the number of defence bases in the region to divert the overcrowding by augmenting the use of civilian airlines to subside the chaos outside the Kabul airport. Commercial airline pilots and crews will help ferry the stranded  Afghans into the aeroplanes to fly them immediately out of Afghanistan. In the history of the US, this would be the third CRAF activation, the first two being the support for Operations Desert Shield/Storm from Aug. 1990 to May 1991, and the second for Operation Iraqi Freedom during Feb. 2002 to June 2003. 

[Hungarian coalition forces escort evacuees to a Hungarian Air Force plane at Hamid Karzai International Airport, in Kabul Afghanistan. Lance Cpl. Nicholas Guevara/U.S. Marine Corps via AP]

ISIS threatening routes to Kabul airport: US embassy

Biden’s announcement of ramping up alternate evacuation strategy comes just two days after reports emerged that Islamic State’s ISIS has been threatening the routes to the airport for the Afghan and the American citizens. A new warning for the US Embassy in Kabul was issued earlier on Saturday that urged Americans to not come to the besieged airport in Kabul. 

[US Marines and Norweigian coalition forces assist with security at an Evacuation Control Checkpoint ensuring evacuees are processed safely during an evacuation at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan. Credit: AP]

"Because of potential security threats outside the gates at the Kabul airport, we are advising US citizens to avoid traveling to the airport and to avoid airport gates at this time unless you receive individual instructions from a US government representative to do so," the US embassy warned in a statement. 

Biden national security adviser Jake Sullivan told a presser,  "the ISIS threat to evacuees is real as he added that the US "is placing paramount priority on preventing any terrorist attack." 

There have been reports of Afghans and American allies, trying to gain access to flights to flee Kabul, thrashed and harassed by Taliban that has surrounded the key points on the routes to the Hamid Karzai International Airport. At least 5,800 US troops were deployed on the ground that now guard the airport. The Associated Press was first to report on the ISIS threat citing sources and government officials, but the Pentagon officials refused to comment at a press conference on Saturday. "There are other terrorist groups we are concerned about as well," one official told US broadcaster, Fox, on condition of anonymity.

US President Joe Biden told reporters at White House, "We have made a number of changes, including extending access around the airport and the safe zone," adding that he didn't "want to get into the details." 

'Strong possibility ISIS-K trying to carry out an attack,' says defense official 

US military scrambled to establish the"alternative routes" to Kabul airport and deploy commercial planes for faster evacuation as terror group ISIS-K now threatened evacuees’ safety. As US President Joe Biden rushed to hold the emergency meeting with the senior officials Saturday to discuss the security situation in Afghanistan, CNN was able to get a statement from a US defense official who said, "There is a strong possibility ISIS-K is trying to carry off an attack at the airport.” 

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Published August 23rd, 2021 at 13:42 IST

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