Pentagon chief visits Afghan resettlement base

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin visited one of the eight military bases housing Afghan nationals evacuated during the U.S. military withdrawal.

Austin's trip to Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey on Monday marks his first visit to one of the resettlement areas, and it comes one day before he is set to testify on Capitol Hill about the withdrawal.

There are more than 9,000 Afghans at Joint Base McGuire-Dix, with full capacity set at 13,000. All eight bases used to house Afghan refugees will hold 50,000 once they're operating at full capacity, Washington Examiner reported.

The United States has temporarily halted inbound flights of Afghan refugees at the Centers for Disease and Control Prevention after 16 cases of measles and four cases of mumps were reported. Afghans at the bases have gotten vaccinated for measles and COVID-19.