By Spy Uganda
Kampala: Uganda will host 2,000 Afghan refugees at the request of the United States of America’s Government-TheSpy Uganda has learnt.
According to the Ministry of Disaster preparedness and refugees, the first batch of 500 Afghans is expected to land today at the Entebbe International airport.
TheSpy Uganda has also learnt that Uganda could accommodate the refugees in hotels and resorts and that the financial cost for this accommodation until a more permanent solution is found, will be covered by the US government.
Uganda hosts the largest number of refugees in Africa – more than 1.45 million, mostly from South Sudan but also from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Burundi. The Bidibidi settlement alone hosts 235,000 people.
This follows after almost two decades of war in Afghanistan and just weeks before the scheduled withdrawal of U.S. forces, the Taliban swiftly returned to power in the capital of Kabul on Sunday, toppling the government and driving thousands of people into a desperate race to escape the country.
The fall of Kabul wiped out the last vestige of government control after a ferocious Taliban offensive that took one major city after another in a matter of days. President Ashraf Ghani fled the country on Sunday. Hours later, Taliban leaders took his place in the presidential palace.
The Taliban’s summer-long military campaign had forced widespread surrenders and retreats by Afghan government forces. Government troops abandoned scores of outposts and bases, often leaving weapons and equipment behind.
In many cases, they surrendered without a fight, sometimes following the intercession of village elders dispatched by the Taliban. Thousands of Afghans, frightened of reprisal killings, tried on Monday to flee the country, seeking refuge at Kabul’s international airport, which was held by foreign military forces trying to assist with evacuations.
