A US official said on Sunday that the Pentagon authorized another 1,000 soldiers to help evacuate American citizens and Afghans working for them from Kabul, after the US embassy warned that the security situation at the city’s airport was changing rapidly.
The official, who asked not to be named, said that the increase in troops brought the total number of troops stationed in Afghanistan to 6,000 temporarily. The soldiers will come from the 82nd Airborne Division that is on standby.
Residents reported that there were sporadic gunshots in the area of Hamid Karzai International Airport, the main site of the Afghan evacuation, because after the Taliban entered the Afghan capital, the U.S. military assisted the evacuation of American personnel.
Officials said that as Taliban fighters entered Kabul, President Ghani had left Afghanistan
“There are reports of a fire at the airport; therefore, we are instructing American citizens to take refuge on the spot,” the US embassy said in a security alert.
Two sources familiar with the situation at the airport could not confirm the reports of the fire there, as Americans, their local allies and other foreigners evacuated.
Secretary of State Anthony Brinken stated earlier on Sunday that US Embassy staff were transported by helicopter from the diplomatic compound to the airport, which is about 5 kilometers (3 miles) northeast of the city.
“We are working hard to ensure that our personnel are safe and secure. We are relocating the men and women of the embassy to a location in the airport,” Brinken told ABC News.
When asked if the evacuation is reminiscent of the U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam in 1975, he said: “Let us take a step back. This is obviously not Saigon.”
President Ashraf Ghani confirmed that he has left the country, but it is unclear how power will shift after the Taliban swept Afghanistan two decades after the Taliban was overthrown by the US-led army.
Sources told Reuters that most American employees are expected to be evacuated from Kabul within the next one or two days.
A NATO official stated that all commercial flights have been suspended and only military aircraft are allowed to fly. The alliance said it helps keep the airport running.
NATO member France and Germany said on Sunday that they are transferring diplomats to the airport and sending military transport planes to Kabul to evacuate their citizens and Afghan helpers.
‘Not Saigon’
An intelligence assessment by the United States earlier this week stated that Kabul could be surrounded within 30 days and could fall into the hands of the Taliban within 90 days, but the insurgents occupied most of Afghanistan’s main areas in less than a week. City and entered the capital on Sunday.
Approximately 4,200 people remained in the US Embassy until Thursday, when the rapid rise of the Taliban forced the Biden government to start sending thousands of soldiers to help withdraw many of the remaining diplomats.
The deployment includes another 1,000 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division, and President Joe Biden said on Saturday that they will help evacuate citizens and ensure the “orderly and safe” drawdown of US military personnel.
On Sunday, US officials said they were weighing whether they needed more troops. Another 3,000 people are on standby in Kuwait.
Blinken told CNN that Washington has invested billions of dollars in the four U.S. governments of the Afghan government forces, giving them an advantage over the Taliban, but they cannot defend the country in the face of attacks by militants.
Brinken said that the initial mission of the United States in Afghanistan was to expel Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden after the September 11, 2001 attack. The mission was completed and that Washington prevented the Taliban from asylum. Further attacks by militants.
But Biden faced increasing domestic criticism after insisting on the withdrawal plan, which was agreed to by his Republican predecessor Donald Trump. On Saturday, Biden defended his decision, saying “The endless presence of the United States in another country’s civil war is unacceptable to me.”
Republican Congressman Michael McCall said that the takeover of the Taliban will put the United States under threat again.
“We will return to the state before 9/11. The breeding ground of terrorism,” he told CNN on Sunday.
A White House official said that Biden met with his national security team through a security video conference during the Camp David presidential retreat on Sunday to hear the latest news about the evacuation and security situation.
Chuck Schumer, the majority leader of the U.S. Senate and a Democrat like Biden, said at a press conference that the safety of American personnel and Afghans who support Americans should be Washington’s top concern.
Schumer said: “The first task is for us to bring back all American personnel…but secondly, all the brave Afghans who help our military must provide them with an exit to the United States.”
(Reporting by the Kabul Bureau; Idrees Ali, Jonathan Landay, Chris Sanders, Michael Martina, and Brad Heath in Washington, Steve Holland of Camp David; writing by Simon Lewis and Sonya Hepinstall; editing by Daniel Wallis)
