US halts flights of Afghan evacuees after four cases of measles found

Limited measles outbreak among Afghan refugees arriving in US is latest setback for withdrawal

All US-bound flights of Afghan evacuees have been halted after four refugees arriving in the United States were diagnosed with measles.

US Customs and Border Protection decided to pause flights from US bases in Germany and Qatar after receiving advice from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

White House press Secretary Jen Psaki said the decision was made “out of an abundance of caution”.

According to the Associated Press, a US government document said the halt would “severely impact” operations at Ramstein Air Base in Germany and have an "adverse effect" on the nearly 10,000 evacuees, many of whom are severely fatigued and have been there more than 10 days.

Germany had placed a 10-day limit on the length of time evacuees could remain in the country.

Afghan evacuees board a flight in Qatar bound for the US on September 9 (AFP via Getty Images)

It’s the latest hitch on the Biden administration’s rushed, chaotic and often violence-plagued evacuation of tens of thousands of Afghans and Americans from Afghanistan after its 20-year occupation.

President Biden has insisted the evacuation operation was a success, despite the Taliban claiming victory over the departing US forces.

Thousands of Afghan evacuees remain in third-country transit sites including Spain, Kosovo, Kuwait, before being moved to the United States or other countries.

National Security Council spokeswoman Emily Horne said Friday that 32 Americans and US green-card holders had left Afghanistan on Friday, 19 on a Qatar Airways flight and 13 others by land. It was only the second such evacuation flight allowed by the Taliban since US troops left.

The US government believes about 100 American citizens remain in Afghanistan, a State Department spokeswoman, Jalina Porter, said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report