FORT BLISS, Texas — The Biden administration on Friday provided the first public look inside Fort Bliss’ Dona Ana Range Complex where Afghans airlifted out of Afghanistan are being screened, amid questions about how the government is caring for the refugees and vetting them. “Everyone Afghan who is here with us has endured a harrowing
Continue ReadingBy ELLEN KNICKMEYER Associated Press The U.S. has halted U.S.-bound flights of Afghan evacuees after discovering a few cases of measles among Afghans arriving in the United States. A U.S. government document viewed by The Associated Press warned the development would have a severe impact on an evacuation that since Aug. 15 has moved many
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EL PASO, Texas — Nearly 20 years ago, Americans witnessed the country under attack on September 1, 2001. It was a day, that many, including Former Commanding General of Fort Bliss and the 1st Armored Division, Dana Pittard, would never forget. “I thought about leaving the army twice before that, but after that, it was
Continue ReadingHospitals across Kentucky are so full with Covid-19 patients, almost the entire system is stretched to the limit. CNN’s Miguel Marquez reports.
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ALAMOGORDO, New Mexico – Two of New Mexico’s congressional representatives visited Holloman Air Force Base on Tuesday afternoon to observe the living conditions of Afghan refugees. “There are a lot of little children wearing shirts that had the American flag,” said U.S. Rep. Yvette Herrell, the Republican congresswoman from southern New Mexico’s second congressional district.
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HOLLOMAN AIR FORCE BASE, New Mexico — There’s nothing stopping Afghan refugees from leaving Borderland military installations that have been set up to house them. But if they choose to leave one of the two sites in the Borderland, they could face many challenges. RELATED STORY: Congresswomen differ over vetting of 2,000 Afghan refugees at
Continue ReadingA former Marine sharpshooter who said he received messages from God broke into two homes outside Lakeland, Florida, and fatally shot four people he didn’t know — including a 3-month-old baby — and wounded an 11-year-old, according to a criminal affidavit.
Continue ReadingSAN DIEGO (AP) — The Navy has declared five missing sailors dead nearly a week after a helicopter crashed in the ocean off San Diego. The Navy has shifted the search for them to a recovery operation on Saturday. The move follows more than 72 hours of coordinated rescue efforts and nearly three dozen search
Continue ReadingLAS CRUCES, New Mexico – Ahead of the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, New Mexico State University professor with extensive research credentials in international relations is critical of the United States’ sudden and chaotic withdrawal from its longest war in Afghanistan. “There’s no other way to describe it,” said Neal Rosendorf, claiming a
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LAS CRUCES, New Mexico — For 24 hours on Friday, New Mexico State University ROTC cadets are honoring the fallen service members killed in Kabul with a memorial on campus. “It’s hitting people very hard,” said Cadet Captain Christine Shank, said the NMSU ROTC recruiting squadron commander. “We thought that it was the least we
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By STEPHEN GROVES Associated Press SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem says the National Guard troops that she deployed to the U.S. border with Mexico will return later this month. The Republican governor deployed 48 National Guard troops to Texas in July. The deployment came in response to a request from
Continue ReadingEL PASO, Texas– Different organizations in El Paso are coming together to provide services and help gather donations for Afghan refugees. Diocesan Migrant & Refugee Services is one of the organizations helping with providing legal service for the refugees being housed at Fort Bliss. The organization is setting up “Know your rights” presentations for the
Continue ReadingUPDATE #2, Aug. 31: In his first formal remarks since the U.S. military withdrew from Afghanistan, President Joe Biden on Tuesday told Americans: “The extraordinary success of this mission was due to the incredible skill, bravery and selfless courage of the United States military and our diplomats and intelligence professionals.” “For weeks they risked their
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EL PASO, Texas– A trend paying tribute to the 13 U.S. service member lives lost in Afghanistan has gone viral across the country. From bars to restaurants and even highways, people are coming together to commemorate our troops. The El Paso bar Gringo Theory on Montana Avenue has followed in those footsteps. They reserved the
Continue ReadingKABUL, Afghanistan — America’s longest war has ended after 20 years as the last U.S. troops departed Afghanistan, concluding a final, frantic airlift. The last five planes departed just after midnight on Tuesday from the Kabul airport, Commander of U.S. Central Command, Gen. Frank McKenzie announced Monday at the Pentagon. RELATED STORIES: Biden to address
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By AAMER MADHANI Associated Press DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. (AP) — At a military base in Delaware, President Joe Biden stood witness with grieving families under a gray sky as, one by one, the remains of 13 U.S. troops killed in the Kabul suicide bombing were removed from a military aircraft that brought them
Continue ReadingBy KATHY GANNON, LOLITA C. BALDOR, TAMEEM AKHGAR and JOSEPH KRAUSS Associated Press KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — U.S. officials say a drone strike has blown up a vehicle carrying “multiple suicide bombers” from Afghanistan’s Islamic State affiliate before they could attack Kabul’s international airport. An Afghan official says three children were killed in the strike.
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Images show the aftermath of an explosion outside Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, as the US evacuate citizens and Afghans following the Taliban takeover. The Pentagon said Friday that, despite initial reports of two suicide bombers in Kabul on Thursday, there was only one
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WASHINGTON, DC — Acting swiftly on President Joe Biden’s promise to retaliate for the deadly suicide bombing at Kabul airport, the U.S. military said it used a drone strike Saturday to kill a planner of the Islamic State group’s Afghanistan affiliate, ISIS-K. The strike came amid what the White House called indications that ISIS-K planned
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LAREDO, Texas — A Marine from Laredo is one of the 13 U.S. service members killed in Thursday’s attack at the Kabul airport in Afghanistan, family members said Friday. 20-year-old David Lee Espinoza was among those that fell victim to the explosions, making the ultimate sacrifice for his country and dying a hero. The loss
Continue ReadingFORT BLISS, Texas — The Pentagon announced Friday afternoon that Fort Bliss is currently housing 2,160 Afghan refugees and the preparations continue to house thousands more.Defense officials also said that only one refugee of the initial 1,200 to arrive at Bliss tested positive for Covid-19.Meantime, University Medical Center told ABC-7 that they had seen 25
Continue ReadingEL PASO, Texas — As Afghan refugees have made their way to the Borderland, many people from the community want to know what they can do to help. The Armed Services YMCA is collecting items that will go directly towards the refugees at Fort Bliss. The organization is in need of clothing including long skirts,
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ALAMOGORDO, New Mexico – In a call with reporters on Friday morning, senior Biden administration officials confirmed an ABC News report that Holloman Air Force Base has become the fifth site across the country to house Afghan refugees. An administration official could not confirm how many refugees had arrived at either Holloman Air Force Base
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KABUL, Afghanistan — Two suicide bombers and gunmen targeted crowds of Afghans flocking to Kabul’s airport on Thursday, in the waning days of a massive airlift that has drawn thousands of people seeking to flee the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. Thirteen American service members were killed – 11 Marines, a Navy medic and an Army
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FORT BLISS, Texas — El Paso Congresswoman Veronica Escobar visited with Afghanistan evacuees at the Fort Bliss Army post during a tour of the refugee housing area on Wednesday evening. She said she talked with some Afghans who told her they had “lost everything” as they fled their homeland, but were grateful to be in America. Escobar’s
Continue ReadingKABUL, Afghanistan — The U.S. Embassy in Kabul on Wednesday advised U.S. citizens at a number of gates at the Hamid Karzai International Airport to “leave immediately,” noting “security threats outside the gates.” “Because of security threats outside the gates of Kabul airport, we are advising U.S. citizens to avoid traveling to the airport and
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UPDATE: WASHINGTON, DC — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that there are approximately 1,500 people who may be Americans left in Afghanistan, adding that when evacuation operations began, there was a population of as many as 6,000 American citizens in the country who wanted to leave. Blinken said the U.S. has “evacuated at
Continue ReadingBy Jessica Schneider, Ellie Kaufman and Veronica Stracqualursi, CNN The Pentagon is mandating that US military service members get fully vaccinated against Covid-19 immediately, after the Food and Drug Administration fully approved the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine this week. The Pentagon is mandating all US military service members receive the vaccine that has been fully authorized
Continue Reading ALAMOGORDO, New Mexico — According to an internal government report obtained Tuesday by ABC News, the U.S. has added a fifth domestic military base to house Afghanistan refugees. Thousands of evacuees, including Americans and Afghans, are now flowing through Dulles International Airport outside Washington, D.C., it said. With that, the Pentagon is moving to stand up
Continue ReadingUPDATE: El Paso County Judge Ricardo Samaniego says initial information he received from the chief medical officer at UMC about two Afghan women giving birth turned out to be in error. The judge, in a follow up to comments he made earlier in the day to ABC-7, indicated that no Afghan refugees have yet given
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