Fort McCoy in Wisconsin currently housing over 8,700 Afghan refugees

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Fort McCoy, Wisconsin

TOMAH, Wis. (FOX 9) - Fort McCoy in western Wisconsin is temporarily housing more than 8,700 refugees from Afghanistan preparing for resettlement in the United States after fleeing the Taliban.

Additional refugees could be coming to Fort McCoy in the coming days and weeks. Military officials initially said the base, located near Tomah, could support 10,000 refugees, but they have since increased that number to 13,000.

The number of Afghans currently at Fort McCoy has nearly tripled in a week, the Associated Press reported.

As of Friday, there are 8,780 Afghan refugees at Fort McCoy and around 1,385 soldiers supporting them, according to Cheryl Phillips, a spokesperson for the task force overseeing the refugees at the base.

Afghan evacuees arriving at Fort McCoy in Wisconsin

By Wednesday morning, the U.S. military evacuated another 11,000 people from the Kabul airport and some Afghan evacuees have started arriving at Fort McCoy near Tomah, Wisconsin.

Fort McCoy is one of three bases in the U.S. processing Afghan refugees since the Taliban took control following the U.S. withdrawal from the country. Phillips said those bases can support a total of 63,000 refugees between the three of them.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Wisconsin Military World