U.S. armed civilians caught heading to Afghanistan in UAE

Shafaq News/ Seven armed U.S. civilians attempting to make their way to Afghanistan via the United Arab Emirates were arrested on August 31, a State Department cable said.

The group of U.S. nationals was detained last Tuesday and later released on bail by local police at Dubai International Airport after having "arrived on a private plane carrying firearms," the cable said.

"The passengers reportedly planned to assist Afghanistan evacuation efforts but had no approved onward travels plans," the cable read, adding that the U.S. Consulate General in Dubai was "engaging with authorities on the issue."

By midnight that same day, August 31, the last U.S. military plane had departed Afghanistan, signaling the end to a two-decade war effort and a chaotic evacuation that involved both U.S. officials and private groups airlifting tens of thousands of people, mostly Afghan personnel who worked with the U.S. government throughout the conflict.

As the U.S. began to leave roughly a year a half after a peace accord with the Taliban, the group made nationwide gains and quickly took the capital, leaving Afghanistan once again under the control of the Islamic Emirate 20 years after the post-9/11 U.S.-led intervention.

But even as the U.S. extraction concluded, it appears some were poised to take matters into their own hands.