The Pentagon announced Sunday that commercial airlines will be aiding the U.S. government with the evacuation of Americans and allies from Afghanistan after the Civil Reserve Air Fleet was activated.
American Airlines, Atlas Air, Delta Air Lines, Omni Air, Hawaiian Airlines and United Airlines will provide a total of 18 planes to help evacuate American citizens and personnel, special immigrant visa applicants and other vulnerable individuals from Afghanistan, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said in a statement.
Airlines will be compensated for their contributions but the Pentagon "does not anticipate a major impact to commercial flights."
Commercial airplanes will not be arriving at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Kirby said, but rather, they will be transporting people from "temporary safe havens and interim staging bases."
"Activating CRAF increases passenger movement beyond organic capability and allows military aircraft to focus on operations in and out of Kabul," Kirby said.
The aircraft will be used in addition to the more than 150 military cargo aircraft in use to evacuate U.S. citizens and allies from Afghanistan amid the Taliban’s takeover of the region.
The U.S. Embassy has urged people stuck in the region to stay put and not make the trip to the Kabul airport until they receive instructions from officials due to the terror group resorting to violence against those seeking evacuation. American troops have been forced to look at alternative routes to the airport because of threats to U.S. citizens and Afghan allies from ISIS-K.
This is the third time the CRAF has been activated, following flights during Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm in 1990-1991, and again during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2002-2003.
The Pentagon said Saturday that around 17,000 people have been evacuated from Afghanistan in the past week and around 22,000 have departed since late July. Roughly 2,500 Americans have been evacuated from the region.