Pentagon ‘rapidly’ making plans to evacuate Afghan interpreters

The US government is "rapidly" formulating plans to evacuate potentially thousands of interpreters who worked for coalition forces in Afghanistan over the past two decades to protect their safety, a top general said.

"We recognize that there are a significant amount of Afghans that supported the United States and supported the coalition, and that they could be at risk," Joint Chiefs Chairman General Mark Milley said late Wednesday.

"We recognize that a very important task is to ensure that we remain faithful to them, and that we do what is necessary to ensure their protection and, if necessary, get them out of the country if that is what they want to do," he said.

In the remarks released Thursday, Milley said the State Department is taking the lead on arranging for interpreters and others who worked for US forces to move to the United States, amid fears they would be targeted for retribution by the Taliban insurgents.