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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe Indiana National Guard’s Camp Atterbury training base will temporarily house Afghan refugees who assisted the U.S. during its 20-year war in Afghanistan, guard officials said Tuesday.
Camp Atterbury was one of eight military facilities around the nation approved by the Secretary of Defense to temporarily house up to 50,000 Afghan refugees, the guard said in a news release.
That news release did not specify how many refugees would be living at Camp Atterbury, located about 25 miles south of Indianapolis. But U.S. Rep. Greg Pence, R-Indiana, said Tuesday in a tweet that “over the coming week, capacity at Camp Atterbury will build to support approximately 5,000 persons.”
Indiana National Guard spokeswoman Lt. Col. Randi Jo Bougere said in response to a question about how many Afghan refugees would be housed at Camp Atterbury that the guard’s news release contains “the information currently available.”
The training facility near Edinburgh will house “Afghan special immigrant visa applicants, their families and other at-risk individuals” in permanent or temporary structures, the release states.
The last U.S. forces flew out of Kabul’s airport Tuesday, ending America’s longest war following an airlift of Afghans, Americans and others seeking to escape a country once again ruled by Taliban militants.
Gov. Eric J. Holcomb said in statement that Hoosiers “are proud to do our part and provide a temporary home for Afghan evacuees who have supported this nation.”
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