FBI investigates report by female soldier assaulted by Afghan refugees at military compound in New Mexico

The FBI confirmed on Friday that it was investigating an allegation by a US soldier who said he was assaulted by a group of Afghan men evacuated to the Doña Ana complex in Fort Bliss, New Mexico.

“The safety and well-being of our servicemen, as well as those in our facilities, is paramount. We immediately provided appropriate care, advice and support to the serviceman,” said Lt. Col. Allie M. Payne, director of public affairs at Fort Bliss, said in a statement.

The FBI did not disclose details of the alleged assault. The Fort Bliss Evacuee Task Force is implementing additional security measures in the wake of the allegation, including additional lighting and the application of the buddy system in the complex where the assault allegedly took place, according to the press release.

Earlier this month, the Justice Department separately charged two Afghan men at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin, with assault and sexual abuse.

Bahrullah Noori, 20, has been charged with attempted aggravated sexual abuse and sexual abuse. He knowingly committed a sexual act with an underage boy and attempted to engage in a sexual act with another underage boy, according to prosecution documents from the Department of Justice.

Separately, Mohammad Imaad was charged with assaulting his wife by strangling her in Fort McCoy, Wisconsin on September 7, prosecution documents show. The alleged victim survived the incident.

The indictment documents and the FBI statement regarding the soldier’s allegations mark the first reported criminal incidents in what has been a largely secure process. The United States’ Operation Allies Welcome has welcomed more than 50,000 special immigration applicants and vulnerable Afghans and houses most of them at eight United States military facilities.

The Department of Homeland Security manages the selection process for evacuees with the assistance of the Department of Defense, which also houses evacuees at bases overseas..

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said earlier this month that the standard is to ensure anyone entering the United States has been screened and screened biometrically and biographically.

“No process is ever perfect, and so if there is a fault on the screen or if there is something going on somehow, I think the system will follow very quickly. to make sure this is resolved, ”Austin said.

The Ministry of Defense has helped evacuate more than 120,000 people in 17 days from Afghanistan as part of the largest non-combatant evacuation ever carried out by the U.S. military.

Operation Allies Welcome chief Jack Markell told reporters on Friday that another 12,000 to 13,000 people currently housed in bases in Europe would arrive in the United States in early October.