Video

Video by Nancy Hudson

AFRICOM Flies Egyptians Home from Tunisia-Libya Border

U.S. Africa Command

March 6, 2011 | 1:12

U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) is supporting the United States effort to respond to the evolving humanitarian emergency on the Libya-Tunisia border.

On March 3, 2011, President Obama ordered the U.S. military to help provide transport for Egyptians who had fled from Libya to Tunisia following the Libyan government's violent reprisals against demonstrators. On March 4, 2011, less than a day after President Obama's announcement, two U.S. Air Air Force C-130 aircraft delivered to Djerba, Tunisia, humanitarian aid supplies from the USAID Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) storage warehouse at Leghorn Army Depot in Pisa, Italy. The OFDA donations included 2,000 blankets, 40 rolls of plastic sheeting, and 9,600 10-liter plastic water containers.

On March 5, U.S. military aircraft began carrying Egyptian citizens who wished to leave Tunisia and return to their home country. On March 5 and 6, U.S. aircraft carried a total of 640 Egyptians from Tunisia to their homeland. Aircraft included U.S. Air Force D-130Js and U.S. Marine Corps KC-130s.

The U.S. military is playing a supporting role in the much larger U.S. government emergency response. These U.S. military aircraft fill a critical niche in being able to provide short-haul passenger transport.

Also available in high definition.