Stronghold Newsletter - July to September 2021
A Message From Our Founder
Hi Everyone,
The events of this past quarter were certainly unexpected as Stronghold was suddenly called upon to assist families escape the Taliban in Afghanistan after the US government pulled all US troops out of the country.
Meanwhile, a little closer to home, our Venezuela relief teams responded to a deadly flood and massive landslides. They courageously smuggled food and medicine past the socialist government forces who blocked off the disaster zone and were not allowing humanitarian relief or journalists to enter the area.
As always, we are truly grateful to you — our supporters — for making our life-saving work possible, and we hope you find this update to be informational, useful, and encouraging!
Gratefully,
Ephraim Mattos
Founder and Executive Director
WARNING: Viewer Discretion Is Advised
These newsletters may from time to time contain written descriptions or photos and videos of the violence, disease, and injuries our teams come across on a regular basis.
Please view at your own discretion.
Extraction Operations in Afghanistan
The Situation on the ground
In August 2021, after US forces were ordered to abandon strategically vital bases around Afghanistan, the Taliban quickly swept in and seized power — capturing billions of dollars worth of US weapons and equipment.
The last remaining American troops were cut off and surrounded by the Taliban and ISIS-K at the Kabul airport and were in danger of being overrun.
As tens of thousands of abandoned Afghan men, women, and children swarmed the gates of the Kabul airport seeking refuge and relying on the promises made by the US government to protect them, the US military began to send troops back into Kabul in an attempt to secure the airport and evacuate our Afghan allies and stranded American citizens.
Stronghold’s Response
Recognizing what was happening, Stronghold immediately began to build “ratlines” for smuggling our Afghan allies out of Afghanistan to neighboring countries.
For weeks, multiple members of Stronghold’s rescue team with special operations intelligence backgrounds worked to secretly establish safe houses, smuggling routes, and build underground cells to smuggle our Afghan allies out of the country.
In keeping with our policy of “charity with dignity,” no US personnel were ever boots on ground inside Afghanistan. All Stronghold teams operating inside Afghanistan are made up solely of courageous Afghans.
So far, Stronghold has extracted 44 total people from Afghanistan — 31 of whom are children.
Although the political and security situation is in a state of constant flux at the moment, we will continue to extract Afghan families as best we can.
A family extracted by Stronghold’s Afghanistan rescue team.
A family extracted by Stronghold’s Afghanistan rescue team.
Burma
What’s Happening in Burma?
Preparing to attack
Over the past three months of “rainy season” in Burma, the Burma Army has been slowly shifting their military into strategic positions to attach ethnic minorities in the coming months.
After the pro-democracy uprisings this past Spring, the Burma Army is determined to re-establish dominance and crush any opposition to their authority once the rain clears.
Stronghold’s Work in Burma
Protecting Refugees In Burma
While the Burma Army is mostly immobile during rainy season, they still launched multiple patrols and ground attacks against civilian populations, to which Stronghold’s Burma rescue team responded by providing medical support and evacuations.
Venezuela
What’s Happening in Venezuela?
Flooding and mudslides
Massive rainfall hit several parts of Venezuela over the past few months, resulting in multiple landslides and hundreds of deaths.
However, instead of allowing journalists and humanitarian aid groups to assist, the Venezuelan government blocked access to these areas to ensure the world didn’t know about the disasters.
Stronghold’s Work in Venezuela
Stronghold Medical Teams
Stronghold’s undercover medical teams responded to several of the floods and mudslides by sneaking into the affected areas in plain clothes and then providing emergency medical care.
The medical teams were able to bring the following supplies into the affected areas:
1,400+ Liters of clean drinking water
275+ Hygiene kits
3,200+ Doses of assorted medicines
The Stronghold medical teams treated a total of 1,450 patients affected by the deadly flooding and mudslides throughout Venezuela.
Stronghold Relief Routes
Stronghold personnel use underground routes to sneak emergency medicine and food packages past the Venezuelan drug cartels and socialist gangs and deliver the supplies to families throughout the country.
In Quarter 3 of 2021, Stronghold relief teams delivered an additional 2,000 doses of assorted medicines to people throughout other parts of Venezuela.
Stronghold relief teams also delivered emergency food packages to 6 families in extreme poverty.
Photo: Some of the damage caused by the flooding and massive mudslides in Venezuela.
Photo: One of the Venezuelan families Stronghold was able to deliver an emergency food package to.
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