The Department of Defense has decided to mobilize commercial airlines to aid in the United States' evacuation efforts in Afghanistan. Commercial flights will now be used as thousands of American and Afghan citizens attempt to flee the country following the Taliban's takeover.
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The Pentagon announced on Sunday that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered the commander of the U.S. Transportation Command to initiate stage one of its Civil Reserve Air Fleet to assist with flying U.S. citizens, Special Immigrant Visa applicants, and other vulnerable individuals out of the country, CNN reported.
The directive from Austin will now have 18 commercial flights to help with the evacuation efforts. This will include three flights from American Airlines, Atlas Air, Delta Air Lines, and Omni Air, two flights from Hawaiian Airlines, and four from United Airlines.
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The Pentagon also shared on Sunday that it plans to use U.S. military bases to house incoming Afghan evacuees, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The plan is to have the planes pick up passengers from "temporary safe havens and interim staging bases," the Pentagon said, not directly from Hamid Karzai International airport. These include bases in Germany, Qatar, and Bahrain.
The images coming out of the Hamid Karzai International airport have shown parents throwing their children over barbed wire and screaming for help as thousands attempt to flee the country.
This is the third time the program has ever been activated, the first two being Operations Desert Shield/Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom, CNN reported. The activation of the program will now allow "passenger movement beyond organic capability and allows military aircraft to focus on operations in and out of Kabul," the Defense Department said, CNN reported.
Jake Sullivan, a White House national security adviser, said the U.S. military agencies are working to stop any future potential terrorist attacks that could happen at the Hamid Karzai airport.
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A State Department alert from Sunday warned U.S. citizens and others to avoid the airport gates from fear that an Islamic State attack could happen.
"The threat is real. It is acute. It is persistent. And it is something we are focused on with every tool in our arsenal," Mr. Sullivan said on CNN. "We are taking it absolutely deadly seriously."
United said it will be activating four Boeing 777-300s as part of the Civil Reserve Air Fleet. Each plane can carry up to 388 passengers, according to Boeing's website.
"United is proud to partner with the Department of Defense and support the humanitarian mission to fly American citizens and Afghan evacuees," the airline said via a statement, CNN reported. The statement went on to add that it is trying to glean the extent of what's expected to be a "small" impact on the rest of the operation.
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