Afghan woman gives birth aboard US evacuation aircraft

An Afghan mother has given birth aboard a US Military plane as she was evacuated from Afghanistan.

US Air Mobility Command said the woman went labour on her way to the Ramstein Air Base, a US Air Force base in Germany, from an undisclosed Middle Eastern staging base.

The pilot descended to a lower altitude to increase air pressure in the aircraft, which Mobility Command credited with saving her life.

“Upon landing, Airmen from the 86th MDG came aboard and delivered the child in the cargo bay of the aircraft,” the statement added.