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FBI Investigating Reported Assault of Female U.S. Service Member By Afghan Evacuees

By Deepa Shivaram
Published September 25, 2021 at 3:21 PM EDT
The FBI's El Paso, Texas, office is investigating the reported assault of a female service member by male Afghan evacuees at a complex in New Mexico.
Adria Malcolm
/
Bloomberg via Getty Images
The FBI's El Paso, Texas, office is investigating the reported assault of a female service member by male Afghan evacuees at a complex in New Mexico.

The FBI says it's investigating the reported assault of a female service member from the Fort Bliss Army base by male Afghan evacuees.

The service member reported that Afghan evacuees staying at the Doña Ana County Range Complex assaulted her, according to local reports. The complex is in New Mexico, about 25 miles north of Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas.

"We received the referral from Fort Bliss, and our office is investigating the allegation," the El Paso FBI office said in a statement to NPR on Saturday.

The name and age of the woman have not been released, and there are no details of the nature of the assault, but the El Paso Times reports that she was assaulted on Sept. 19 by a "small group of male evacuees."

"We take the allegation seriously and appropriately referred the matter to the Federal Bureau of Investigation," Lt. Col. Allie Payne, director of public affairs for Fort Bliss, told TV station KVIA.

Fort Bliss officials have not responded to NPR's requests for comment.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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Deepa Shivaram
Deepa Shivaram is a multi-platform political reporter on NPR's Washington Desk.
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