Female service member reportedly assaulted by group of evacuees

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Daniel Sharp

Recently, Pop Smoke Media received reports of a disturbing incident involving a female service member and a group of evacuees. The Fort Bliss public affairs director, Lt. Col. Allie Payne, responded to our inquires with the following statement:

Recently, Pop Smoke Media received reports of a disturbing incident involving a female service member and a group of evacuees.

“We can confirm a female service member supporting Operation Allies Welcome reported being assaulted on Sept. 19 by a small group of male evacuees at the Doña Ana Complex in New Mexico. We take the allegation seriously and appropriately referred the matter to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The safety and well-being of our service members, as well as all of those on our installations, is paramount. We immediately provided appropriate care, counseling and support to the service member. Task Force-Bliss is also implementing additional security measures to include increased health and safety patrols, additional lighting, and enforcement of the buddy system at the Dona Ana Complex. We will cooperate fully with the FBI and will continue to ensure the service member reporting this assault is fully supported.”

Evacuees story still developing

Details to the extent of the assault, or any injuries, have not been publicly released. However, the Army has confirmed a female service member reported being assaulted by a group of male evacuees at the fort’s Doña Ana complex in New Mexico.

The Doña Ana Complex is an auxiliary of Fort Bliss, which is located approximately 26 miles south, across the Texas border.

Sorting through the reports

Of the few who have heard about this incident, many got their information from a post by Terminal CWO.

The outlet published images that allegedly confirm more details about the assault. Citing an anonymous screen-cap of an incident report.

We’ve received an alarming number of reported incidents which have taken place across the various installations housing the refugees. There is an overwhelming number of unaccompanied males who evacuated Afghanistan. Many people have stated that the security posture is not… (1) pic.twitter.com/NNuXXsShwQ

— Terminalcwo (@terminalcwo) September 20, 2021

 

Fort Bliss’ Doña Ana Range Complex

Around 1,000 service members have been tasked with providing support to Operation Allies Refuge at Fort Bliss. Although it was originally designed to house 1,800 soldiers, the Dona Ana Range Complex has been grown to house over 10,000 refugees from Afghanistan. Furthermore, it was noted over a quarter of them are children.

The Army ensured some security measures were improved for the new mission. However, the base is notorious for being dangerous. A recent study proved, “Women at Fort Hood, Fort Bliss, and several other bases face total sexual assault risk that is higher than the risk faced by the average woman in the Army.”

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