The United States has evacuated approximately 4,000 Americans and their families from Kabul, Afghanistan.
The Pentagon’s Tuesday announcement comes after days in which officials refused to provide a specific number regarding how many Americans were among the tens of thousands who have been evacuated.
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“As of today, August 24, we have evacuated approximately 4,000 American passport holders plus their families. We expect that number to continue to grow in the coming days,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said in a statement.
He had refused to specify how many Americans were among the evacuees earlier in the day, only saying that “several thousand” had departed the airport.
There have been a total of 63,900 people who have been relocated this month, so roughly 6% of the total people evacuated in August have been Americans. The number of evacuations has increased significantly over recent days, with more than 20,000 people having left on Monday.
Aircraft were taking off approximately every 45 minutes on Monday, Maj. Gen, Hank Taylor, the deputy director of the Joint Staff for regional operations, told reporters Tuesday.
Pentagon officials anticipate that the military will be able to maintain that level.
“I want to reiterate that we’re able to achieve this level of increased departures because of U.S. military personnel and our partners’ work around the clock [to] conduct this highly important mission, including airport security and flight operation. To that end, we’re seeing increased pace in Kabul,” he said.
It’s unclear how many U.S. citizens are in Afghanistan and what percentage of them have reached out to the State Department to leave the country.
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“Many people have asked, reasonably, why we cannot provide a precise number of American citizens still in-country. Let me explain. When Americans have come to Afghanistan over the years, we asked them to register with the embassy. Many have left without de-registering; others never register at all. That is their right, of course. And it’s our responsibility to find them, which we are now doing hour by hour,” White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Monday.
President Joe Biden said Tuesday that the U.S. would stick to the Aug. 31 deadline despite conflicting pressures as to whether to extend the evacuation window and the CIA director meeting with top Taliban officials. The Taliban have become more aggressive in their public comments, and they have opposed any extension.
