UAE to temporarily host 5,000 Afghans at U.S. request

Evacuees from Afghanistan sit inside a military aircraft during an evacuation from Kabul, in this photo taken on August 19, 2021 at undisclosed location and released on August 20, 2021. Staff Sgt. Brandon Cribelar/U.S. Marine Corps/Handout via REUTERS

DUBAI (Reuters) -The United Arab Emirates has agreed to host 5,000 Afghan nationals to be evacuated from their country for 10 days on their way to a third country at the request of the United States, the Gulf Arab state's foreign ministry said on Friday.

"The evacuees will travel to the UAE from the Afghan capital of Kabul on U.S. aircraft in the coming days," the ministry said in a statement carried by state news agency WAM.