The Pentagon said on Sunday that the United States will use 18 commercial aircraft to help transport people evacuated from Afghanistan and move them from temporary locations in Kabul to other locations.
This move highlights the difficulties that Washington has encountered in evacuating American citizens and Afghans in danger after the Taliban quickly took over. This is the third time the U.S. military has used civilian aircraft.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the plane will not fly to Kabul, but will be used to transport people who have already left Afghanistan. He described it as the first phase of the plan, implying that more commercial aircraft could be launched later.
American Airlines, Atlas Air Lines, Delta Air Lines, and privately held Omni Air will each provide three aircraft, two from Hawaiian Airlines and four from United Airlines.
According to the FBI, so far, 12 aircraft have been evacuated with 11,000 Afghans fleeing the Taliban.
Kirby said in a statement that the Department of Defense “does not expect the launch to have a significant impact on commercial flights.”
According to the White House, in the past 24 hours, about 3,900 people were evacuated from Kabul on 35 coalition aircraft (including commercial airlines), and another 3,900 were evacuated from Kabul on 23 US military flights. It added that a total of about 25,100 people have been evacuated since August 14.
An official from United Airlines stated that four Boeing 777-300 aircraft have been launched and can carry about 400 passengers according to the layout.
This “civilian reserve aviation fleet” was first used during the Gulf War (August 1990 to May 1991), and was subsequently used during Iraq’s construction and invasion (February 2002 to June 2003).
The evacuees were sent to more than a dozen countries outside Afghanistan, including Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia.
The limited number of aircraft is only one of the problems faced by evacuation.
Security issues in Kabul are also increasingly worrying, where approximately 5,800 soldiers are protecting the airport.
The United States and other countries, including the United Kingdom, have sent thousands of soldiers to manage the evacuation of foreign citizens and vulnerable Afghans, but they have been far away from the Kabul airport.
White House National Security Adviser Jack Sullivan said on Sunday that the United States has “ensure that it has the ability to allow large numbers of Americans to safely pass through the airport and enter the airport in Afghanistan.”
Last week, the US military used three military helicopters to transport 169 Americans from a building only 200 meters (656 feet) from the hotel to Kabul Airport. Officials said that such actions are expected to continue.
Officials said they were also frustrated by the slow processing by the Department of Homeland Security and the State Department.
— Reported by Susan Heavey, Andrea Shalal, Sarah N. Lynch and David Shepardson
