Escape from Kabul
Group saves 39 that the US left
Thirty-nine American citizens and lawful permanent residents left behind in Afghanistan by the Biden administration were evacuated Friday and are headed to the Big Apple.
The evacuees, including more than a dozen kids — the youngest an 11-monthold American citizen — were rescued from the Taliban-controlled country by Project Dynamo, a volunteer, civilian group led by former military members and current military reserve soldiers, the organization said.
“This is the first known major airlift rescue with American boots on the ground since the US government abandoned the country of Afghanistan in August,” James Judge, a spokesman for the organization, said in a statement. “Despite their difficulties, we are doing this because it is the right thing to do when another human is in need and because our fellow Americans should never be left behind.”
Two members of Project Dynamo, Bryan Stern and Abdul Wasit, flew into Afghanistan from an undisclosed country in the region earlier this week and, with help from a small team of volunteers, brought the evacuees to a safe house near Kabul.
Once there, they were given COVID-19 vaccines and other necessary vaccinations along with PCR tests, the group said.
The evacuees were then loaded up in vehicles and escorted to Kabul International Airport where they boarded two flights chartered by Berry Aviation around 4 p.m. local time.
The evacuees have all passed a preliminary inspection by the State Department but will need to clear customs after they arrive at JFK Airport on Saturday morning, according to the group. The State Department did not return a request for comment and couldn’t confirm if they conducted clearance checks.
Stern, a co-founder of Project Dynamo, said this is the first evacuation that’s been pulled off without the use of a refugee camp since the Taliban took control of the country following President Biden’s sloppy withdrawal.
“No American or permanent resident should be forced to stay in a refugee camp while attempting to return to their own families, homes and communities in the United States,” Stern said in a statement.
The group claims to have “safely and legally” rescued more than 2,000 Americans and lawful permanent residents from Afghanistan since Kabul fell.
The Department of Defense and the White House didn’t return requests for comment.
Following the military’s haphazard withdrawal from Afghanistan, Biden claimed there were just 100 to 200 American citizens left behind in the country, but earlier this month the State Department showed that number was much larger.
Since Aug. 31, the agency said 479 citizens and 450 lawful permanent residents have managed to get out with their assistance and that they’re “in touch with fewer than a dozen US citizens” who want to leave and have the needed travel documents to do so.