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.
Biden’s defense secretary says concerned about Afghan pilots in Tajikistan
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Biden’s defense secretary says concerned about Afghan pilots in Tajikistan
- Among the 143 Afghans there is a pregnant pilot
WHO says one person dead from Nipah virus in Bangladesh
- Nipah is an infection that spreads mainly through products contaminated by infected bats, such as fruit
DHAKA: The World Health Organization said on Friday that a woman had died in northern Bangladesh in January after contracting the deadly Nipah virus infection.
The case in Bangladesh, where Nipah cases are reported almost every year, follows two Nipah virus cases identified in neighboring India, which has already prompted stepped-up airport screenings across Asia.
The patient in Bangladesh, aged between 40-50 years, developed symptoms consistent with Nipah virus on January 21, including fever and headache followed by hypersalivation, disorientation and convulsion, the WHO added.
She died a week later and was confirmed to be infected with the virus a day later.
The person had no travel history but had a history of consuming raw date palm sap. All 35 people who had contact with the patient are being monitored and have tested negative for the virus, and no further cases have been detected to date, the WHO said.
Nipah is an infection that spreads mainly through products contaminated by infected bats, such as fruit. It can be fatal in up to 75 percent of cases, but it does not spread easily between people.
Countries including Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and Pakistan implemented temperature screenings at airports after India said cases of the virus had been found in West Bengal.
The WHO said on Friday that the risk of international disease spread is considered low and that it does not recommend any travel or trade restrictions based on current information.
In 2025, four laboratory-confirmed fatal cases were reported in Bangladesh.
There are currently no licensed medicines or vaccines specific for the infection.
