President Joe Biden says 11,000 individuals were evacuated from Kabul over the weekend, and he remains committed to assisting all Americans who want to leave Afghanistan get out.
Mr Biden added that his first priority is getting American citizens out of Afghanistan “as quickly and safely as possible”.
This morning, the President met with his national security team to discuss the security situation in Afghanistan, counterterrorism operations, evacuation efforts, and intensive diplomatic efforts to finalize agreements with additional third-party country transit hubs. pic.twitter.com/Gcff8h8dUa
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) August 21, 2021
He said: “We’re working hard and as fast as we can to get people out. That’s our mission. That’s our goal.”
Mr Biden also says he is also activating the civilian reserve air fleet provided by commercial airlines to help move evacuees from third country waystations on to the United States.
Earlier on Sunday, administration officials said the US military is considering “creative ways” to get Americans and others into the Kabul airport for evacuation from Afghanistan amid “acute” security threats, and the Pentagon on Sunday ordered six US commercial airlines to help move evacuees from temporary sites outside of Afghanistan.
At the one-week mark since the Taliban completed its takeover of the country, the US-directed airlift from Kabul continued even as officials expressed growing concern about the threat from the so-called Islamic State (IS) group.
That worry comes on top of obstacles to that mission from the Taliban, as well as US government bureaucratic problems.
Mr Biden met with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and other members of his national security team to discuss the situation in Afghanistan, the White House said.
Afghanistan will be the chief topic of discussion when Mr Biden and leaders of the Group of Seven industrialised nations meet virtually on Tuesday.
“The threat is real, it is acute, it is persistent and something we’re focused with every tool in our arsenal,” said Mr Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan.
Mr Sullivan said on CNN’s State Of The Union that 3,900 people had been airlifted out of Kabul on US military flights over the past 24 hours.
A US defence official said those people were flown on a total of 23 flights — 14 by C-17 transports and nine aboard C-130 cargo planes.
The Biden administration has given no firm estimate of the number of Americans seeking to leave Afghanistan. Some have put the total between 10,000 and 15.000. Mr Sullivan on Sunday put it at “several thousand.”
Speaking on ABC’s This Week, Mr Austin said that as Mr Biden’s August 31 deadline for ending the evacuation operation approaches, he will recommend whether to give it more time. Tens of thousands of Americans and others have yet to be flown out of the country.
