AMN/ WEB DESK
Tens of thousands of people in Afghanistan are waiting nervously to see whether the United States would deliver on its President Joe Biden’s new pledge to evacuate all Americans and all Afghans who aided the war effort. Time is running out ahead of Biden’s August 31 deadline to withdraw most remaining U.S. troops, and the President last night did not commit to extending it.
President Biden has acknowledged the mass evacuation from Afghanistan is not without risk of loss.
Speaking at the White House, he said, the US had rescued 13,000 people to date in one of the largest, most difficult airlifts in history.
He said, any American who wants to come home, we will get to his home.
Taking questions from reporters, the President said, the US military would make the same commitment to 50 thousand to 65 thousand Afghan allies hoping to leave, before adding the evacuation of American citizens was the priority.
Meanwhile, Pentagon Spokesman John Kirby said that the US operations continue to take place primarily within the confines of the airport itself, although there was one successful mission to rescue 169 Americans from shortly outside the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul perimeter.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has thanked the partner countries who played an important role to help them evacuate US citizens and at-risk Afghans from Kabul.
Bahrain today announced it was allowing flights to use its transit facilities for the evacuation. The United Arab Emirates said, it would host up to 5,000 Afghans prior to their departure to other countries.
So far, 13 countries have agreed to host at-risk Afghans at least temporarily, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.
Another 12 have agreed to serve as transit points for evacuees, including Americans and others.