President Joe Biden speaks about the evacuation of American citizens, their families, SIV applicants and vulnerable Afghans in the East Room of the White House, Friday, Aug. 20, 2021, in Washington. Vice President Kamala Harris, left, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken listen.
Manuel Balce Ceneta | AP
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden said flights out of Afghanistan have resumed Friday afternoon, and he pledged to get all Americans out of the country who wanted to leave.
Nearly as important as getting Americans out is evacuating the U.S. military translators and others who helped American troops, said the president.
Speaking at the White House, Biden said over 18,000 people have been evacuated from Afghanistan since the end of July and 5,700 in the last 24 hours.
Biden’s remarks come as U.S. forces rush to airlift as many people as possible out of the country ahead of a self-imposed deadline to depart Afghanistan by Aug. 31.
The president said the end of August was still the intended date of departure. “I think we can get it done by then, but we’re going to make that judgement as we go,” he said.
No flights left Kabul airport for at least 8 hours because Qatar had reached capacity, two U.S. officials told NBC News. The State Department is expected to announce that flights from Kabul will be able to land in Europe as the U.S. looks for other locations to send planes, according to Reuters.
The president has defended his decision to pull out U.S. forces despite a mounting humanitarian crisis in the wake of the Taliban’s rapid takeover of Afghanistan, arguing that there was no way “to have gotten out without chaos ensuing.”
Thousands of Afghans have fled to the gates of Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul seeking a flight out of the country after the Taliban swept across the country.
Evacuees crowd the interior of a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft, carrying some 640 Afghans to Qatar from Kabul, Afghanistan August 15, 2021.
Courtesy of Defense One | Handout via Reuters
Earlier this week, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told reporters that the Pentagon wasn’t able to safely escort Americans to the airport for evacuation.
“I don’t have the capability to go out and extend operations currently into Kabul,” Austin said when asked about those who cannot reach the gates of the airport because they are behind Taliban checkpoints.
The United States is relying on an agreement with the Taliban to guarantee the safe passage of Americans. While the State Department has said the Taliban have kept their commitments on the safe passage of U.S. citizens, some Afghan nationals are being stopped by the militants.
A boy is processed through an Evacuee Control Checkpoint (ECC) during an evacuation at Hamid Karzai International Airport, Kabul, Afghanistan August 18, 2021. Picture taken August 18, 2021.
US Marines | Reuters
The Pentagon has said that its goal is to airlift approximately 5,000 to 9,000 people a day out of Kabul. U.S. Army Maj. Gen. William “Hank” Taylor said Thursday that the departure tempo is dependent on who has been cleared to leave the country through the State Department.
Taylor expects a departure pace of one U.S. military cargo aircraft per hour. The Pentagon has moved about 5,000 U.S. troops to Kabul in order to provide security and help with the evacuations.
