US Edition
Australia Prepares Military Evacuation as Middle East Flight Disruptions Continue
Australian Defence prepares evacuation taskforce amid 12,000+ flight cancellations, with 115,000 Australians stranded in the Middle East due to escalating military strikes, officials said.
- On Tuesday night the Department of Defence set up a taskforce to explore evacuation options, placed Brisbane-based military personnel on alert, and remains ready to support DFAT-led contingency planning.
- Heavy strikes across the Gulf closed airspace and grounded flights, with over 12,000 cancellations leaving around 115,000 Australians in limbo after Saturday's attacks.
- Sending six crisis response teams, the federal government pressed UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Tuesday night for resumed flights amid limited departures, including one from Dubai with about 200 Australians, while an estimated 24,000 remain in the UAE.
- Arrivals halls in Abu Dhabi descended into 'mayhem', with baggage dumped and nine-hour layovers extended beyond three nights while Al Minhad military headquarters remains the likely evacuation staging point.
- With warnings of further strikes and rising casualties, the US State Department urged citizens to 'depart now via commercial means' while US President Donald Trump warned of a 'big wave' of strikes as the American death toll reached six.
14 Articles
14 Articles
About 115,000 Australian nationals are in the Middle East, when a war has erupted since an Israeli-American attack on Iran.
Hundreds of Australians are flying home from Dubai, amidst the escalating Middle East conflict
Over 200 Australians are due to land in Sydney tonight, onboard the first commercial homebound flight from Dubai, since the latest Middle East conflict erupted. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade says it has received more than 2,000 calls in response to travel disruptions. Foreign Minister Penny Wong has described the scale of the conflict as 'unprecedented,' making it difficult, she says, to arrange the kind of repatriation flights see…
Australia sends consular crisis teams to Middle East
The federal government is sending six crisis response teams to the Middle East to help thousands of Australians stranded in the region, while the foreign minister continues to brush off questions about whether the US and Israel's strikes on Iran were legal.
Sydney Morning Herald
The AgeWong dispatches crisis squads to Middle East to help stranded Australians - but no rescue planes yet
Foreign Minister Penny Wong has warned of the historic challenge of repatriating Australians from the Middle East, with the ADF standing ready to support the operation.
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