Skip to main content

Biden will provide an update on Afghanistan on Sunday afternoon.

WASHINGTON, DC - On Sunday at 4:00 p.m. President Joe Biden will brief Americans on preparations to expel Americans and Afghan friends from Afghanistan.

According to the White House, Biden will meet with his national security team to receive information on intelligence, security and diplomacy on Afghanistan. He will then speak about the evacuation of US citizens, special immigrant visa applicants and their families, and other Afghans at risk.

Biden will also provide an update on his administration's response to Hurricane Henry.

Before the deadline for the withdrawal of all troops, set in the United States on August 31, American forces are trying to evacuate the Americans and the Afghan allies as quickly as possible. American evacuations are thwarted by crowds of Afghans who want to leave the country and the Taliban checkpoints.

https://static01.nyt.com/images/2021/08/22/world/22afghanistan-briefing-biden/22afghanistan-briefing-biden-videoSixteenByNine3000.jpg

Flights from Afghanistan were delayed on Saturday due to difficulties in securing accommodation for migrants leaving Kabul. All doors at Kabul airport were closed on Saturday due to service at Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar, according to a Defense Ministry official who was not allowed to comment publicly.

Most US military evacuation planes fly from Kabul to Qatar, and the latter's inability to serve more evacuees is having an impact.

US commercial airlines joined in the evacuation.

On Sunday, the Pentagon said it would use commercial airlines to help evacuate Kabul.

According to Pentagon spokesman John Kirby, Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin mobilized 18 Civilian Reserve Air Force planes to help the State Department provide airlift.

The addition of 18 commercial jets - three from American Airlines, Atlas Air, Delta Air Lines and Omni Air, Kirby said; two from Hawaiian Airlines; and four from United Airlines - will not affect business operations. These planes will not land at Kabul Hamid Karzai International Airport. According to Kirby, "they will be used for the subsequent movement of passengers from temporary shelters and intermediate bases."

Civilian aircraft were deployed three times: once to support Desert Shield / Storm (August 1990 to May 1991) and once to support Operation Iraqi Freedom (August 1990 to May 1991). (From February 2002 to June 2003).

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Biden seeks contractor to run migrant detention facility for up to 400 on Guantanamo Bay and wants guards who speak Haitian Creole: AOC brands it 'utterly shameful'

The Biden administration is looking to hire a private contractor to operate a little-known migrant detention facility on Guantanamo Bay, Cuba that will be able to temporarily house up to 400 illegal immigrants. The government's contract opportunity reveals that a minimum of '10% of the augmented personnel must be fluent in Spanish and Haitian Creole' – indicating they are planning to send some of the massive influx in Haitian migrants to the island U.S. Naval base. Upon hearing news of the contract request from Immigration and Customs Enforcement , Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was furious. 'Utterly shameful,' she slammed on Twitter. Progressive lashed out at images that emerged over the weekend of Border Patrol officials and agents on horseback using what appeared to be whips to deter a massive group of migrants gathering on the U.S. side of the border with Mexico. The images were slammed as 'inhumane' and 'horrific,' despite th...

'Stop talking!': BBC's Nick Robinson gets into a VERY heated debate with Boris Johnson as PM makes his first appearance on Radio 4's Today programme in two years

The BBC's Nick Robinson got into a slanging match with Boris Johnson as the Prime Minister made his first appearance on the Today programme for two years - with the presenter at one point telling him: 'Stop talking!'. The interview at the Conservative conference in Manchester immediately got off to a tense start, with Mr Robinson pointedly saying how long it had been since Mr Johnson was last on the show, prompting him to cheekily reply 'has it really been that long?' During the interview, Mr Johnson was interrupted during a long-winded answer on the supply chain crisis by Mr Robinson, who told him: 'Prime Minister, you are going to pause. Prime Minister, stop talking, we are going to have questions and answers, not where you merely talk, if you wouldn't mind.' Boris Johnson and Nick Robinson (both seen at the Tory conference today) got into a heated exchange on the Today programme  The PM replied, 'I'm very happy to stop talking,' before M...

Tony Abbott flies to Taiwan to meet with the President as an official says the country is 'preparing for WAR' with China

Former prime minister Tony Abbott has landed in Taiwan to give a speech and meet the country's president amid rising tensions with China. Mr Abbott - who led Australia from 2013 to 2015 - will on Friday speak at the Yushan forum, a conference organised by the Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation.  He will also have unofficial meetings with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen and Foreign Minister Joseph Wu.  Mr Abbott was filmed landing at Taiwan's Taoyuan airport after flying from Singapore. He was greeted by deputy minister of foreign affairs Tien Chung-kwang (pictured together) The Chinese aircraft have not been flying in Taiwan's air space, but its air defence identification zone or ADIZ (pictured in the yellow box), a broader area Taiwan monitors and patrols to give it more time to respond to any threats The visit comes after Taiwan reported 148 Chinese air force planes had flown over its air defence zone over a four day period beginning on Friday, the same day China marked a ke...