The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
U.S. deploying troops for extraction
With an Aug. 31 withdrawal deadline looming, the Pentagon is ramping up evacuations from Kabul’s airport by deploying American helicopters and troops into select areas of Kabul to extract stranded American citizens and Afghan allies.
What’s happening
Defense officials said that as of Monday, the military has helped evacuate 37,000 people since Aug. 14, when Kabul fell to the Taliban. The pace of flights has picked up in the last few days, allowing for 11,000 people to be evacuated in one day. But that number is still just a fraction of the American citizens, foreign nationals and Afghan allies who are seeking to leave the country.
What it means
President Joe Biden has left the door open to maintaining the American troop presence — now at 5,800 Marines and soldiers — at the airport beyond the Aug. 31 deadline. But on Monday, a Taliban spokesman warned of “consequences” if the United States sticks around beyond that date.
Leaders of the Group of 7 nations will hold a virtual meeting today to discuss the increasingly dangerous situation. Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain, which holds the group presidency this year, is expected to broach the issue of the retrenchment as some inside Britain call for sanctions against the Taliban.
Beyond fears that the Taliban are regressing to their past behavior of violent repression, there are also worries among national security officials that the American withdrawal could create a new and ongoing threat, including ISIS terrorists regaining a foothold in the country.
Why it matters
John Kirby, Pentagon press secretary, declined to offer details about how American troops will deploy into Kabul, or other parts of the country, to extract Americans, citing delicate ongoing negotiations between American and Taliban commanders. But he acknowledged two specific incidents in which American helicopters and troops have gone into Kabul to extract some 350 Americans, and said other cases may occur if Americans and allies are “in extremis.”
That is a change in the Pentagon’s position from last week, when officials said U.S. forces did not have the capacity to operate beyond the airport, and that people seeking evacuation had to make their way to the airport on their own.
In a 24-hour period from Sunday to Monday, “the U.S. military transported just under 11,000 personnel,” from the airport to other countries, Gen. Hank Taylor said at a Pentagon briefing — by far the highest one-day figure so far. “Since the beginning of evacuation operations on Aug. 14, we have evacuated approximately 37,000.”
He said Afghan allies are still being processed at the Kabul airport, although several times over the past week, the gates of the airport have been shuttered because of the surge of people.