What’s the story?.. A US official reveals that the Al Oudeid Qataris base is home to Daesh
Security officials at the American base of Al-Oudeid in Qatar discovered that hundreds of ISIS fighters were among the refugees, according to a report in Defense One.
According to the report, some 100 people associated with the ISIS terrorist group have been identified, with US security officials preparing to further scrutinize the more extensive screening they received at their first stop after Afghanistan to determine why they were among the refugees
ISIS affiliates
In statements to Defense One, a US official confirmed that security monitors at Al Oudeid Air Base in Qatar have discovered that at least 100 Afghans evacuated from Kabul airport had links to the terrorist group ISIS.
In addition, the Defense Department’s automatic biometric identification system identified as many as 100 of the 7000 Afghans evacuated who would be able to receive special immigration visas as matching the watch lists of intelligence agencies, a second official told the newspaper.
Specification matching
The first official confirmed refugee data checks of the rules to which refugees had previously been transferred, with customs and border patrol monitors checking evacuees identity cards and biometric data against law enforcement databases
Afghan vetting
Eventually, thousands of these Afghans will come to the United States, where they will initially be housed at various military bases, such as Fort Bliss in Texas, Fort McCoy in Wisconsin and Fort Lee in Virginia.
The first official said: “There were definitely a number of them” who issued the alerts and asked security agents to pull those evacuees aside for further screening. In most cases, these Afghans – many of whom have already been screened through the special immigration visa process – have been approved for follow-up screening.
The US official noted that in at least one case in 100, the evacuees “appear to be a potential member of ISIS” and “continue to operate within the terrorist organization”.
Tight security
According to the newspaper, in a call Tuesday with journalists, a senior administration official said: Afghans evacuated to third countries are subject to “tight security” before coming to the US.
The senior Biden administration official said: “This process includes biometric and biometric security screening by our intelligence, law enforcement and counterterrorism professionals who work hard around the clock to screen all these Afghans before they are allowed into the United States.”
Fall of Kabul
According to Defense One, in the first few days after the fall of Kabul on 15 August, a limited number of US observers were at Hamid Karzai International Airport, screening hundreds, then thousands of evacuees.
So far, the US military and chartered aircraft have flown more than 63000 Americans, Afghans and allied partners fleeing Taliban control in Afghanistan, in one of the fastest and largest air evacuations in the military’s history, she said.
Challenges at Kabul Airport
According to the paper, it was not just the sheer number of people that was the challenge. A second official familiar with the screening said: Agents were struggling with outdated auditing systems and were unable to integrate all required information, such as the Defense Department biometric database.
The official explained: “On-the-ground screenings have outdated technology, they don’t know how to use it, and integrate it,” he said, adding that “there aren’t enough people to treat” all evacuees.
According to the paper, it could take up to an hour for the system to process data and tell the examiner if the person is ”green” – tested – or ”red” and poses a potential security risk, which was part of why a large number of evacuees are now stuck in the bases.
“The bottom line is the system is working, but it’s slow in the process,” the official said.
Acceleration of evacuations
Defense One noted that the last few days have seen an acceleration in the pace of US military and civilian airlifts, with 21600 people being transported on Tuesday alone. These operations are ahead of an August 31 deadline for all troops to be out.
The newspaper confirmed that while most of the security warnings come from al-Oudeid Base, the massive airlift operation has expanded to the extent that potential terrorist links can be reported to other Afghan bases. American officials do not rule that out.
American screening
Observers attributed Qatar’s transfer of ISIS members among the Afghan refugees to the infiltration of artists and women to attract them to Doha, where they will later be used to manage the Afghan scene.
