Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby and Army Maj. Gen. William "Hank" Taylor, Joint Staff deputy director for regional operations, spoke at a media briefing on the morning of Aug. 21 stating that the U.S. has started using additional intermediary way station sites - other than Qatar - for refugee evacuations from the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Afghanistan. Among the sites are Germany, UAE and Britain. Discussions are underway to open others, Taylor said. Once processed at these way stations, evacuees are flown to the U.S. and are taken to Fort Bliss, Texas; Fort Lee, Virginia; or Fort McCoy, Wisconsin. Since mid-day Aug. 20, six U.S. C-17 aircraft and 32 charter flights departed Kabul with a total of about 3,800 passengers. The U.S. military has 5,800 troops at the Kabul airport with the mission of operations and security. Kirby described the situation outside the airport in Kabul as "very fluid and dynamic," and that "it changes almost by the hour." (Source: DoD 08/21/21)
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