Report: US Special Forces Vets ‘Secretly Rescued’ Hundreds Of Afghan Allies Left By Biden Admin
Veterans of US special forces reportedly carried out rescue operations for “hundreds” of Afghanistan’s Special Forces and their families — allies of America during the 20 year war in the country — left behind by the Biden administration.
The Daily Mail said the veterans “secretly rescued” these Afghan Special Forces in an operation called “Pineapple Express” run by a “group of special op soldiers including retired Green Berets and SEAL Team commanders.”
The secret rescue efforts happened after “one of the Afghan commandos they served with contacted them to say he was on the run from the Taliban,” the report added, noting that his visa to leave the country had yet to be approved by the time the Taliban took over Kabul on August 14.
A Private Group of US Veterans Called 'The Pineapple Express' Have Gone into Afghanistan on Their Own and Rescued 500 People https://t.co/W39REyBJ4P pic.twitter.com/WnNar6dKU4
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) August 27, 2021
“The special ops soldiers first devised a system with US troops at the airport where they sent their comrades to a gate and told them to identify themselves with the password ‘pineapple’ to be put on a plane by the Marines on the ground. Some also showed the troops pictures of pineapples on their phones,” the outlet added.
They began looking outside the US military cordon around Hamid Karzai International Airport after getting their former colleagues out of Afghanistan, defying the Biden administration’s restrictions against rescuing colleagues stuck in Kabul city.
ABC News reported separately: “Moving after nightfall in near-pitch black darkness and extremely dangerous conditions, the group said it worked unofficially in tandem with the United States military and US embassy to move people, sometimes one person at a time, or in pairs, but rarely more than a small bunch, inside the wire of the U.S. military-controlled side of Hamid Karzai International Airport.”
It added that as of Thursday morning, the group said it had brought as many as “500 Afghan special operators, assets and enablers and their families into the airport in Kabul overnight, handing them each over to the protective custody of the US military.”
The “Pineapple Express” operation was revealed following a horrific terror attack in Kabul on Thursday that killed over 200 people, including 10 US Marines, two US Army soldiers, and one US Navy hospital corpsman.
Thank you to these heroes! Our allies and their families inside Afghanistan deserve this effort. Our administration has left them and many others to die 👇
'Pineapple Express': US vets volunteer to secretly rescue allies in Afghanistan https://t.co/o3PJ51EgrL via @nypost
— Spencer Pope (@SPopeGoDawgs) August 28, 2021
The veterans carrying out the secret mission noted that the attack did affect their operation — but they are unable to tell so far whether some of their colleagues were among those who died in the blast that happened in the vicinity of the Hamid Karzai International Airport.
The report said 130 other individuals were rescued into the custody of the US military inside the perimeter of the Kabul airport through “Task Force Pineapple,” which is an “informal group whose mission began as a frantic effort on August 15 to get one former Afghan commando who had served with group founder Col. Scott Mann, a former Green Beret.”
Green Berets are considered some of the toughest special operations forces in the US Armed Forces, if not the world.
“Dozens of high-risk individuals, families with small children, orphans, and pregnant women, were secretly moved through the streets of Kabul throughout the night and up to just seconds before ISIS detonated a bomb into the huddled mass of Afghans seeking safety and freedom,” Mann said.
Many of those who aided “Task Force Pineapple” reportedly opted to disobey instructions and leave the safe perimeter within the Kabul airport, despite the Biden administration’s order that they stay behind airport perimeter, which the publication noted is because of President Joe Biden’s fear of a “Black Hawk Down” event.
'Pineapple Express': US vets volunteer to secretly rescue allies in Afghanistan https://t.co/w8w8qlRcKG pic.twitter.com/aDQtTfldlm
— New York Post (@nypost) August 27, 2021
“This Herculean effort couldn’t have been done without the unofficial heroes inside the airfield who defied their orders to not help beyond the airport perimeter, by wading into sewage canals and pulling in these targeted people who were flashing pineapples on their phones,” Mann said.
ABC News added: “With the uniformed US military unable to venture outside the airport’s perimeter to collect Americans and Afghans who’ve sought US protection for their past joint service, they instead provided overwatch and awaited coordinated movements by an informal Pineapple Express ground team that included ‘conductors’ led by former Green Beret Capt. Zac Lois, known as the underground railroad’s ‘engineer.’”
According to ABC, Lois was both proud and astounded by the “secret” mission carried out to rescue those still stuck beyond the Kabul airport.
“That is an astounding number for an organization that was only assembled days before the start of operations and most of its members had never met each other in person,” the former Green Beret Captain added.
