Afghans evacuated to the United States during the Taliban conquest of Afghanistan last summer were not fully vetted by the National Counter Terrorism Center (NCTC) before arrival, a Defense Department Inspector General report said on Thursday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th February, 2022) Afghans evacuated to the United States during the Taliban conquest of Afghanistan last summer were not fully vetted by the National Counter Terrorism Center (NCTC) before arrival, a Defense Department Inspector General report said on Thursday.
"(W)e found that Afghan evacuees were not vetted by the NCTC using all data prior to arriving in CONUS (Continental United States)," the report stated.
The failure occurred because Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) enrollments were compared against Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Automated Biometric Identification System data, but it did not initially include all biometric data in the Defense Department's Automated Biometric Identification System, the report said.
"(I)n August 2021, NGIC personnel expanded their normal analytic review of all biometric watch list matches to also include non watch list matches of Afghan evacuees using all (Defense Department) data to close these gaps. ... The NGIC entered into an agreement with the DHS to access the necessary CBP records," report added.
The National Ground Intelligence Center personnel then identified Afghans with derogatory information in the Automated Biometric Identification System database that were believed to be in the United States and subsequently developed informal procedures to notify both the Defense Department and other agencies about these individuals, according to the report.
