Secret CIA Compound Known As ‘The Salt Pit’ Used To Avoid Taliban Checkpoints And Evacuate Thousands

A secret CIA compound outside Kabul reportedly served as a base of operations for evacuations that avoided Taliban checkpoints.

Eagle Base — which until 2004 was home to the notorious prison known as the Salt Pit — was used from Aug. 15-Aug. 28 to assist with evacuation efforts after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, according to a report from The New York Times published Wednesday. (RELATED: Psaki Won’t Say If US, Taliban Have Agreement On Remaining Americans)

The Salt Pit was a CIA black site outside Kabul, home to some of the worst torture committed during the war on terror. We found that since Aug. 15, the compound became a base for clandestine evacuations before being deliberately destroyed: https://t.co/zbNNhWUP7p

— Evan Hill (@evanhill) September 1, 2021

The CIA stopped using the Salt Pit as a prison in early 2004, according to experts, but it also utilized the compound, known as Eagle Base, to train an elite unit from Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security: https://t.co/GFaRIKZkG0

— Evan Hill (@evanhill) September 1, 2021

According to the NYT report, analysts looked at “satellite imagery, corporate records, active fire data and flight paths” in order to determine how Eagle Base was used in the days before it was demolished and abandoned for good.

The Times analyzed satellite imagery, corporate records, active fire data and flight paths to get a better look at the secret compound and assess how it was used for evacuations, then destroyed. pic.twitter.com/wJkRISLzUQ

— Evan Hill (@evanhill) September 1, 2021

“Russian-made Mi-17 helicopters flew evacuees from the compound to Kabul airport to avoid Taliban checkpoints. Flight data shows that three Mi-17s made at least 35 flights there since the Taliban took control on Aug. 15,” Evan Hill, a visual investigator for the NYT, tweeted Wednesday.

Russian-made Mi-17 helicopters flew evacuees from the compound to Kabul airport to avoid Taliban checkpoints. Flight data shows that three Mi-17s made at least 35 flights there since the Taliban took control on Aug. 15. pic.twitter.com/BnI8zKuyGk

— Evan Hill (@evanhill) September 1, 2021

Among those evacuated were the elite Afghan troops who had been trained by the CIA at Eagle Base. “Agency-trained Afghan troops from the NDS, who were at high risk of Taliban reprisals, made a deal with the Americans to help with airport security in return for being airlifted out of the country,” Hill added.

According to U.S. and former Afghan officials, the Agency-trained Afghan troops from the NDS, who were at high risk of Taliban reprisals, made a deal with the Americans to help with airport security in return for being airlifted out of the country: https://t.co/TMMGLlcFuZ

— Evan Hill (@evanhill) September 1, 2021

Some parts of Eagle Base were demolished months earlier — when President Joe Biden announced a final withdrawal from Afghanistan before Sept. 11 — but other areas remained untouched until just days before the last American evacuation flights left Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul.

Demolitions at the Salt Pit appear to have been begun around April and May, after the U.S. announcement of a September withdrawal. But many were demolished on Aug. 27, like these, which a former intelligence analyst said included an ammo depot and training site. pic.twitter.com/YyBUYvZ7BE

— Evan Hill (@evanhill) September 1, 2021

The evacuees were long gone and the final demolitions, according to the report, were “completed by Aug. 28.”

The evacuations and demolitions appear to have been completed by Aug. 28. By Aug. 30, Taliban fighters had entered the remnants of the compound, ending the nearly two-decade clandestine U.S. presence at the infamous site. pic.twitter.com/h62ydqG8LN

— Evan Hill (@evanhill) September 1, 2021

Taliban fighters reportedly entered the empty compound, all but razed to the ground, by Aug. 30 — just hours before the final U.S.-led evacuation flights left Kabul.