- The United States has dispatched three helicopters to rescue 169 Americans who were unable to reach Kabul Airport.
- The group originally planned to walk to the gate of the airport, but there was a rush of people, and American officials worried about the safety of Americans.
- According to the Pentagon, US military commanders stationed on the ground at the airport have frequent contacts with local Taliban commanders.
An official said on Friday that the US military in Afghanistan deployed three helicopters to rescue 169 Americans who could not reach the boarding gate of Kabul Airport and left the country.
The first evidence that the U.S. military is willing and able to cross the U.S.-protected airport to help people seeking evacuation is that three Chinook helicopters flew to the Barron Hotel not far from the airport to pick up U.S. citizens. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby.
The group originally planned to walk to the gate of the monastery of the airport, but a group of people gathered there, and American officials were worried about the safety of Americans.
“A large crowd gathered outside the gate of the monastery. Not everyone believed that they could pass through the crowd, so the local commander at the scene took the initiative to fly these helicopters there to pick them up,” Kirby said.
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Earlier, President Joe Biden mentioned rescue in a speech, but provided few details.
Since the US military took over the airport a week ago to facilitate the airlift of potentially tens of thousands of people, they have been avoiding going out of the gate to avoid possible conflict with the Taliban that has seized control of the country.
The Pentagon stated that US military commanders stationed on the ground at the airport have maintained frequent contact with local Taliban commanders to facilitate Americans and Afghans holding US visas to arrive at the airport and leave.
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