WASHINGTON: US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin expressed concern on Wednesday about US-Afghan pilots and other personnel being held in Tajikistan after fleeing there last month, during a hearing where a lawmaker complained of foot-dragging by US diplomats.
“We will get with State (Department officials) right away to see if we can move this forward. I share your concerns,” Austin said in response to Republican Rep. Austin Scott during a hearing at the House Armed Services Committee.
Reuters exclusively provided first-person accounts from US-trained Afghan personnel being held at a sanatorium in a mountainous, rural area outside of the Tajik capital, Dushanbe, waiting and hoping for over a month for transfer by the United States. Among the 143 Afghans there is a pregnant pilot.
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