First US charter flight carries Americans out of conflict zone

 Washington faces criticism for failing to provide faster exit routes after 17,500 people left the war-torn region on their own.

The US urged Americans in Israel, the UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia to sign up online for charter flights amid rising conflict. (AFP pic)

WASHINGTON:

 The United States on Wednesday flew its first charter flight from the war-hit Middle East, the state department said, after 17,500 Americans were estimated to have left on their own.

The state department said the first charter flight had left the Middle East on Wednesday but provided no details, citing operational concerns.

“Additional flights will be surged across the region,” it said in a statement, asking Americans in Israel, the UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia to sign up online.

The state department has faced criticism from travellers and lawmakers for not providing quicker paths out of the region, even though the United States and Israel started the war Saturday with a joint attack on Iran.

Iran has since fired missiles and drones across the region, hoping to wreak havoc in the usually stable Gulf Arab monarchies.

More than 17,500 Americans have returned to the United States since the war started, with 8,500 returning on Tuesday, assistant secretary of state Dylan Johnson said.

He said that the state department had assisted nearly 6,500 people, with most Americans leaving on their own and virtually all of them taking commercial flights.

The United States has advised Americans to leave all of the Middle East immediately from Egypt eastward, even though air travel in the region has been severely curtailed. - FMT