US uses secret CIA base outside Kabul to evacuate Americans, 1,000 Afghan commands and their families - media

The United States allegedly used a secret CIA connection to rescue Americans along with members of elite Afghan special forces amid the chaos in and around Kabul airport.

The connection, known as Eagle Base and located less than three miles north of Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, was used to covertly get hundreds of U.S. citizens and at least 1,000 Afghan commands and their families out of the country, Politico reported, citing flight documents. and three high-ranking sources.

The evacuees were instructed to head out to the base to avoid security risks and the general chaos outside the airport, which was flooded by locals after the Afghan city was seized by the Taliban on 15 August. Diplomats communicated directly with U.S. citizens, including when the embassy urged Americans to stay away from the airport in the face of growing terrorist threats.

Some people were flown from the base by helicopters to Kabul airport and later the plane to Germany, Politico said. A CIA spokesman declined to comment on the operation to the website.

President Joe Biden was heavily criticized by opponents of the Republican Party and media for the insanely organized last-minute evacuation and for not taking steps to rescue Americans and allied Afghans before. Biden, however, described the operation as a success and called it “One of the greatest aerial lifts in history."

Read more

In all, more than 124,000 people were flown out of Kabul during the last two weeks of August, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, US Army General Mark Milley.

Biden promised to help Americans who remain in Afghanistan leave if they want to, even after the last U.S. troops left the country on Monday, bringing an end to nearly two decades of occupation.

The evacuation was marred by a suicide bombing outside Kabul airport that killed 13 U.S. soldiers and more than 160 Afghan civilians. Islamic State Khorasan province (ISIS-K), an offshoot of Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) in Afghanistan, claimed responsibility for the attack.

The Afghan-trained Afghan security force largely disappeared during the final phase of the Taliban offensive last month, enabling the militants to gain a significant arsenal of military hardware, including US-made vions and tools.

The United States and some of its NATO allies invaded Afghanistan in 2001 in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks to fight Al-Qaeda and other jihadist groups.

Do you think your friends would be interested? Share this story!