President Joe Biden said on Sunday afternoon that the United States had withdrawn thousands of people from Afghanistan but still had a long way to go.
Despite the progress made in evacuating civilians from Afghanistan over the weekend, Biden said: “There is still a long way to go. And many other things can go wrong. "
With thousands of Americans still in Afghanistan, Biden said his administration was considering extending the departure deadline until August. 31. He noted: “Extension negotiations are underway between us and the military. "We hope we don't need to renew."
According to the British military, chaos continues at Hamid Karzai International Airport, with seven people killed as crowds try to flee the country.
According to the Associated Press, the Department of Defense said in a statement: "Conditions on the ground remain extremely difficult, but we are doing everything possible to handle the situation in the safest and most reliable manner possible."
When temperatures reached the mid-1990s on Saturday, troops from many countries attempted to contain crowds of people trying to break into the airport. It was not immediately clear whether these deceased people had been physically crushed or whether they had died for other reasons. According to Reuters, 20 people died at the airport during the evacuation last week, a NATO spokesperson said.
Biden bemoans the "suffering and loss" caused by the evacuation.
President Joe Biden said on Sunday that the United States evacuated 11,000 people from Afghanistan in less than 30 hours.
“Today I will repeat what I said before: Any American who wants to go home, we will take you home,” Trump said on Sunday. He said the United States was trying to get the Americans to Kabul airport. but declined to provide information about the operation for security reasons.
“It is impossible to evacuate so many people without causing heartache and sadness, as well as devastating television footage. It's just a fact, ”Biden said.
The president's comments came at a time when the United States is grappling with problems both at home and abroad, with severe weather systems wreaking havoc in the northeast and Tennessee.
Biden warned that the security situation in Afghanistan was changing, saying some terrorists, like ISIS-K, could try to use the circumstances at Kabul airport to attack innocent Americans and Afghans.
“The security situation is changing rapidly,” he said. "We make no mistake about the threat."
Biden also appears to have dismissed concerns, voiced primarily by conservatives, that Afghans entering the United States are not being properly vetted. There will be no direct flights between Afghanistan and the United States, Biden said.
Special immigrant visa applicants travel from Afghanistan to friendly countries such as Qatar, Germany, Kuwait and Spain for their safety and "for the paperwork," he said.
"We salute those Afghans who have supported us for 20 years, because that is what we are," the president said after examining the Afghan candidates.
Taliban resistance in the northern provinces of Afghanistan
The Taliban are in talks with former Afghan government leaders for a political transition, saying they will bring peace and security to the country after decades of bloodshed. According to Afghan insiders familiar with the talks, the Taliban have said they will not reveal the name of the government until the deadline for the US military's withdrawal is August 31.
However, they are already facing opposition.
Activists calling themselves the "popular uprising" claimed to have taken three areas in the Andarab Valley, located in the high mountains of the Hindu Kush in Baghlan province, about 120 km north of Kabul.
According to Khair Mohammad Khairkhwa, the former provincial intelligence chief, and Abdul Ahmad Dadgar, another uprising leader, the militants burned down houses and kidnapped children. Similar accusations were made by two other officials who requested anonymity.
A request for a response from the Taliban was not immediately returned.
A group of militia commanders and ousted government officials vowed to defend Panjshir province, the only province not yet under Taliban control, after the Taliban released a video showing their militants visiting the area. The region is a hotbed of Northern Alliance militants who allied with the United States to overthrow the Taliban in 2001, and Ahmad Masood, the son of a prominent Northern Alliance leader who was killed a few days before the September 11 attacks, filmed from there. .
However, despite 20 years of Western funding, advice and training, it seems incredible that several thousand guerrillas will soon prevail where the Afghan security forces have failed.
We have an American military plane leaving Kabul, a child has been born.
An airliner from Kabul, Afghanistan, landed in Germany with one more passenger than it took off.
An Afghan woman gave birth on a plane that landed at Ramstein Air Base on Saturday.
“My mom started having contractions and started having problems traveling from an intermediate base in the Middle East,” the US Air Force Air Mobility Command tweeted.
According to the tweet, the mother and baby are in good health.
The GOP berates Biden for leaving.
Representative Liz Cheney said on Sunday that President Joe Biden should have postponed the date for the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan.
On NBC News' Meet the Press show, the Wyoming Republican said, "There's no question about it." “After all, President Biden is the President of the United States and has had no problem changing his mind on other matters. He reversed a number of policies of the Trump administration. "
Senator Ben Sasse, a Republican from Nebraska, berated Biden for sticking to a departure schedule that was extended by four months after the Trump administration struck a deal with the Taliban.
"August 31 was an arbitrary and politically motivated deadline." The Taliban need to understand that they don't have the final say in American life, ”Sass told Fox News on Sunday.
Sass said Biden must be determined to fight the insurgents in Afghanistan and anything that hinders the exit plan, even if he opposes it.
"The president's strategy is to leave Afghanistan, but he needs the Taliban to know, as well as al-Qaeda, the Haqqani network, al-Qaeda and ISIS supporters, that if gunfire is directed against Americans to evacuate our people, he can reconsider. "
As Afghan troops retreat, the White House is not ruling out the possibility of deploying additional troops.
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said the United States has "enough force" in Afghanistan to complete the current evacuation before the August 31 deadline, but he does not rule out sending troops. additional.
Sullivan told NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday that the president was asking his military leaders, including at the airport and the Pentagon, if they needed more resources or troops. "So far the answer has been no, but today he will ask again."
Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced on Fox News on Sunday that 8,000 people had been evacuated on 60 planes in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number evacuated by military and charter flights since late to 30,000. July.
The British military said on Sunday that instability persists at Kabul airport, where massive masses of people are trying to flee the country, killing seven.
Sullivan said if the Taliban obstructed the evacuation, the United States would respond "quickly and decisively." He argued that as part of the activists' pledge not to intervene, the United States offered nothing to the Taliban in return.
“It's not some kind of compromise. Sullivan said: "We made no guarantees." “We have announced our expectations. We told them that the United States was planning to deport any American who wanted to leave, as well as any Afghans in danger. This is what we intend to do. And we'll make sure they go all the way. "
Despite the progress made in evacuating civilians from Afghanistan over the weekend, Biden said: “There is still a long way to go. And many other things can go wrong. "
With thousands of Americans still in Afghanistan, Biden said his administration was considering extending the departure deadline until August. 31. He noted: “Extension negotiations are underway between us and the military. "We hope we don't need to renew."
According to the British military, chaos continues at Hamid Karzai International Airport, with seven people killed as crowds try to flee the country.
According to the Associated Press, the Department of Defense said in a statement: "Conditions on the ground remain extremely difficult, but we are doing everything possible to handle the situation in the safest and most reliable manner possible."
When temperatures reached the mid-1990s on Saturday, troops from many countries attempted to contain crowds of people trying to break into the airport. It was not immediately clear whether these deceased people had been physically crushed or whether they had died for other reasons. According to Reuters, 20 people died at the airport during the evacuation last week, a NATO spokesperson said.
Biden bemoans the "suffering and loss" caused by the evacuation.
President Joe Biden said on Sunday that the United States evacuated 11,000 people from Afghanistan in less than 30 hours.
“Today I will repeat what I said before: Any American who wants to go home, we will take you home,” Trump said on Sunday. He said the United States was trying to get the Americans to Kabul airport. but declined to provide information about the operation for security reasons.
“It is impossible to evacuate so many people without causing heartache and sadness, as well as devastating television footage. It's just a fact, ”Biden said.
The president's comments came at a time when the United States is grappling with problems both at home and abroad, with severe weather systems wreaking havoc in the northeast and Tennessee.
Biden warned that the security situation in Afghanistan was changing, saying some terrorists, like ISIS-K, could try to use the circumstances at Kabul airport to attack innocent Americans and Afghans.
“The security situation is changing rapidly,” he said. "We make no mistake about the threat."
Biden also appears to have dismissed concerns, voiced primarily by conservatives, that Afghans entering the United States are not being properly vetted. There will be no direct flights between Afghanistan and the United States, Biden said.
Special immigrant visa applicants travel from Afghanistan to friendly countries such as Qatar, Germany, Kuwait and Spain for their safety and "for the paperwork," he said.
"We salute those Afghans who have supported us for 20 years, because that is what we are," the president said after examining the Afghan candidates.
Taliban resistance in the northern provinces of Afghanistan
The Taliban are in talks with former Afghan government leaders for a political transition, saying they will bring peace and security to the country after decades of bloodshed. According to Afghan insiders familiar with the talks, the Taliban have said they will not reveal the name of the government until the deadline for the US military's withdrawal is August 31.
However, they are already facing opposition.
Activists calling themselves the "popular uprising" claimed to have taken three areas in the Andarab Valley, located in the high mountains of the Hindu Kush in Baghlan province, about 120 km north of Kabul.
According to Khair Mohammad Khairkhwa, the former provincial intelligence chief, and Abdul Ahmad Dadgar, another uprising leader, the militants burned down houses and kidnapped children. Similar accusations were made by two other officials who requested anonymity.
A request for a response from the Taliban was not immediately returned.
A group of militia commanders and ousted government officials vowed to defend Panjshir province, the only province not yet under Taliban control, after the Taliban released a video showing their militants visiting the area. The region is a hotbed of Northern Alliance militants who allied with the United States to overthrow the Taliban in 2001, and Ahmad Masood, the son of a prominent Northern Alliance leader who was killed a few days before the September 11 attacks, filmed from there. .
However, despite 20 years of Western funding, advice and training, it seems incredible that several thousand guerrillas will soon prevail where the Afghan security forces have failed.
We have an American military plane leaving Kabul, a child has been born.
An airliner from Kabul, Afghanistan, landed in Germany with one more passenger than it took off.
An Afghan woman gave birth on a plane that landed at Ramstein Air Base on Saturday.
“My mom started having contractions and started having problems traveling from an intermediate base in the Middle East,” the US Air Force Air Mobility Command tweeted.
According to the tweet, the mother and baby are in good health.
The GOP berates Biden for leaving.
Representative Liz Cheney said on Sunday that President Joe Biden should have postponed the date for the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan.
On NBC News' Meet the Press show, the Wyoming Republican said, "There's no question about it." “After all, President Biden is the President of the United States and has had no problem changing his mind on other matters. He reversed a number of policies of the Trump administration. "
Senator Ben Sasse, a Republican from Nebraska, berated Biden for sticking to a departure schedule that was extended by four months after the Trump administration struck a deal with the Taliban.
"August 31 was an arbitrary and politically motivated deadline." The Taliban need to understand that they don't have the final say in American life, ”Sass told Fox News on Sunday.
Sass said Biden must be determined to fight the insurgents in Afghanistan and anything that hinders the exit plan, even if he opposes it.
"The president's strategy is to leave Afghanistan, but he needs the Taliban to know, as well as al-Qaeda, the Haqqani network, al-Qaeda and ISIS supporters, that if gunfire is directed against Americans to evacuate our people, he can reconsider. "
As Afghan troops retreat, the White House is not ruling out the possibility of deploying additional troops.
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said the United States has "enough force" in Afghanistan to complete the current evacuation before the August 31 deadline, but he does not rule out sending troops. additional.
Sullivan told NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday that the president was asking his military leaders, including at the airport and the Pentagon, if they needed more resources or troops. "So far the answer has been no, but today he will ask again."
Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced on Fox News on Sunday that 8,000 people had been evacuated on 60 planes in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number evacuated by military and charter flights since late to 30,000. July.
The British military said on Sunday that instability persists at Kabul airport, where massive masses of people are trying to flee the country, killing seven.
Sullivan said if the Taliban obstructed the evacuation, the United States would respond "quickly and decisively." He argued that as part of the activists' pledge not to intervene, the United States offered nothing to the Taliban in return.
“It's not some kind of compromise. Sullivan said: "We made no guarantees." “We have announced our expectations. We told them that the United States was planning to deport any American who wanted to leave, as well as any Afghans in danger. This is what we intend to do. And we'll make sure they go all the way. "
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