Girl born on evacuation plane named after callsign

WASHINGTON: The Afghan baby girl born on a C-17 military aircraft during an evacuation flight from Afghanistan will forever carry that experience with her.

Her parents have named her after the plane's call sign - Reach.

The head of US European Command told reporters Wednesday that officials had spoken to the mother and father of the child, who is the only one actually born on an evacuation flight.

Gen. Tod Wolters says the parents decided to name her Reach because the transport aircraft's call sign is Reach 828.

She was born Saturday, and members of the 86th Medical Group helped in her birth as the plane flew from Kabul to Ramstein Air Base in Germany.

European Command says the mother went into labor during the flight and began experiencing complications due to low blood pressure.

The pilot descended in altitude to increase air pressure in the aircraft, which helped stabilize the mother.

Military medical personnel delivered the baby in the plane's cargo bay.

Wolters says the baby and family are all in good condition.

Two other babies whose parents were evacuating from Afghanistan have been born over the past week at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, the US military hospital in Germany.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken says as many as 1,500 Americans in Afghanistan may still await evacuation, with six days to go before President Joe Biden's deadline for completing the airlift from Kabul airport.

Blinken said 4,500 Americans have been flown out of the country so far, including 500 in the past 24 hours.

Pentagon officials say the U.S. military-led airlift of Americans and others from Kabul will continue until the final hours of next Tuesday.

Blinken said the State Department is working hour-by-hour to determine which Americans still want to get out.

Refugees from Afghanistan have arrived at Fort McCoy in Wisconsin and up to 10,000 more could do so in the coming weeks.

Fort McCoy is one of three military installations nationwide that is processing people being evacuated out of Afghanistan since the country fell to the Taliban

US troops are the main anchors for a multinational evacuation from the airport.

The White House says the airlift overall has flown out 82,300 Afghans, Americans and others on a mix of U.S., international and private flights.