The United States will begin evacuating Afghan interpreters and special applicants, who are at risk of facing retribution, by July end, confirmed the White House, announcing they would soon launch an operation, called Operation Allies Refuge, to get them out of the war-torn country.

The US government has been under pressure from lawmakers of both US political parties and advocacy groups to begin evacuating thousands of special immigration visa applicants – and their families – who risk retaliation because of their work with the US government.

Concern has grown only after the Taliban, the main Afghan insurgent group, captured a vast territory and has started imposing extremely harsh rules which often violate international norms of human rights. 

“The reason that we are taking these steps is that these are courageous individuals. We want to make sure we recognize and value the role they’ve played over the last several years,” White House Spokesperson Jen Psaki said in the press briefing.

Citing threat, she denied revealing the exact number of Afghans to be evacuated.

A report in Ariana news said the initial evacuation would include about 2,500 people and that they likely would be housed on US military facilities, possibly in the United States, while their visa applications were processed. 

Over 18,000 Afghans had applied for special immigrant visas to seek asylum in the US, citing an increased level of threat in Afghanistan. 

Other European countries may follow a similar move in the coming weeks, and their governments are under pressure from human rights groups for safeguarding the lives of Afghans who helped the NATO missions risking their own lives. 

(SAM)