American military sites hosting thousands of refugees: Reports

WASHINGTON/ISLAMABAD: The United States has welcomed close to 24,000 Afghan refugees it had flown out of Kabul since mid-August, with around 20,000 of them residing at eight US military bases, according to internal government data seen by the news outlet CBS News.

Eight US military locations in five states - Virginia, Wisconsin, New Mexico, New Jersey and Indiana - have reportedly been tasked with hosting them, the news outlet reported.

It also reported that about 40,000 Afghan evacuees were housed at military locations in Europe and West Asia, which includes those who are going through US immigration processing and security vetting, according to government data.

Reports say American military bases that are currently hosting Afghan evacuees have the capacity to house up to 50,000 refugees.

A total of 124,000 people had been airlifted out of Afghanistan before Washington completed its troop withdrawal on August 30, a day before the scheduled deadline.

CBS News also reported that the sudden spike in admissions of Afghan refugees has put pressure on the resources of America’s nine refugee resettlement agencies, compelling them to move many of the evacuees to rentals and hotels.

Stampede at border with Pakistan turns deadly

One person has died after a stampede at an Afghanistan-Pakistan border crossing on Wednesday, CNN has reported.

Safi Ullah, a 64-year-old Afghan man, died during the stampede, his son Shahid Ullah told CNN. Shahid said they were trying to cross the border with family when he lost his father in the crush. The crossing links Pakistan’s border town of Chaman with Spin Boldak in the Afghan province of Kandahar and is often used for trade.