U.S. on pace to complete Afghan pullout by August 31, Biden says
U.S. President Joe Biden announced Tuesday that United States is on track to complete evacuation from Afghanistan by August 31.
“We agreed that we will continue to close our cooperation to get people out as efficiently and safely as possible. We are currently on a pace to finish by August the 31st. The sooner we can finish, the better. Each day of operations brings added risk to our troops” he said.
But the completion by August 31st depends upon the Taliban continuing to cooperate and allowing access to the airport for evacuation efforts , he added.
Taliban said earlier that all foreign evacuations from the country must be completed by August 31.
Biden said the Taliban are cooperating so far to get the people out despite some violent incidents. “But it’s a tenuous situation,” he said, adding, “We run a serious risk of it breaking down as time goes on.”
He also directed the Pentagon and State Department to draw up contingency plans to change his timeline if necessary.
U.S. forces have helped evacuate 70,700 people since August 14, he said. In the past 12 hours, he said, at least 19 U.S. military flights, 18 C-17s, and one C-130 carrying approximately 6,400 evacuees and 31 coalition flights carrying 5,600 people have left Kabul.
Biden earlier described it as “one of the largest, most difficult airlifts in history.” Nearly 6,000 American troops are at the airport as part of the airlift, including the 82nd Airborne providing runway security, the Army 10th Mountain Division standing guard around the airport, and the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit assisting the civilian departure.
U.S. president also said that the G7 leaders, and the leaders of the EU, NATO, and the UN, all have agreed to stand united in their approach to the Taliban. “We agreed the legitimacy of any future government depends on the approach it now takes to uphold their international obligations, including to prevent Afghanistan from being used as a base for terrorism.”
