Pentagon recognizes “terrible” conditions at Qatar base temporarily housing Afghan evacuees

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“We are aware and as concerned as anyone of the terrible sanitary conditions in Qatar which have been facilitated by the number and the speed at which these figures have arrived,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters at the meeting. a press briefing on Tuesday.

Several news outlets had reported unsanitary conditions at Al Udeid air base, which has been one of the main destinations for flights from Kabul.

Kirby said on Tuesday that conditions “are improving now”, but “they are not” perfect.

“We will be the first to admit that conditions at Al Udeid could have been better. They are improving now,” he said. “I’m not going to stand up here and tell you that they’re perfect, because they’re not.”

The US military continues to try to identify other temporary locations where evacuees can be sent to “ease the pressure” on the Qatari base, Kirby said.

He added that “no one here wants anyone to be less than safe, secure, comfortable and well groomed as they go through this process.”

The United States has reached an agreement with Qatar for the country to accept 8,000 Afghan special immigrant visa (SIV) applicants and their family members.

An eight-hour break in US military evacuation flights occurred on Friday because the Al Udeid base had reached maximum capacity.
The U.S. military has chosen other locations for the temporary dispatch of evacuees, including Ramstein Air Base in Germany, locations in Italy, Spain and Bahrain, Kirby said.

The United States is in the midst of what President Joe Biden has called “one of the most important and difficult airlifts in history” and is trying to increase flights from Afghanistan ahead of the August 31 deadline for the departure of American troops. from the country. The Al Udeid base is home to the largest US base in the Middle East.

As a sign of the scale and urgency of the mission, the Pentagon activated commercial airlines to assist with the evacuation mission by transporting people from Qatar and other centers to the United States or a third country. .

More than 21,000 people have been evacuated from Kabul airport in the past 24 hours via US military and coalition flights, a White House official told CNN on Tuesday.

CNN’s Kylie Atwood, Barbara Starr, Jennifer Hansler, Michael Conte and Nicole Gaouette contributed to this report.

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