U.S. military forces at the Kabul airport now have the ability to conduct rescue missions of Americans on a case-by-case basis, according to a Defense Department official who emphasized their orders on airport security remain unchanged.
“We have flown in additional capacity, additional forces. Security is in a more stable position at the airport,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters. “So, if there would be a need to do something additional to help Americans or other people at risk that we need to get to the airfield, we would examine those options, tee ‘em up, weigh the benefits versus the risks, and then offer up opportunities to the secretary to make a recommendation, and we would go from there.”
That update represents progress from earlier this week when Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin acknowledged Pentagon officials didn’t have the forces to help Americans who were struggling to reach the evacuation point. The danger confronting those Americans, as well as the scores of thousands of Afghan nationals who helped the U.S. government over the last 20 years, has been underscored by reports that Taliban forces are assaulting at least some of the U.S. citizens and Afghan partners seeking access to the airport.
“We have communicated to the Taliban that that’s absolutely unacceptable, that we want free passage through their checkpoints for documented Americans,” Kirby said. “And by and large, that’s happening.”
BIDEN DENIES INTERNATIONAL CRITICISM OF AFGHANISTAN WITHDRAWAL
Taliban forces have surrounded the Kabul airport since they took the capital city earlier this week, following an offensive against major city centers that surged across the country. A private-sector intelligence report commissioned by the United Nations warns that “the Taliban have been conducting advance mapping of individuals prior to the take-over of all major cities,” while anecdotes suggest the Taliban are implementing a double standard for Afghan Americans.
“I got to the gates and was about to show my passport, but the Taliban got it, and he said you are not allowed to go through and wouldn’t give it back,” an interpreter told the New York Post. “I was lucky a U.S. marine was right there and forced him to give it back.”
Biden ordered U.S. forces to return to Kabul last week as the Taliban’s takeover of the country made the risks of leaving diplomats from the United States and NATO ally nations unmistakable.
“We’re going to do everything — everything that we can to provide safe evacuation for our Afghan allies, partners, and Afghans who might be targeted if — because of their association with the United States,” the president said earlier Friday. “But let me be clear, any American who wants to come home, we will get you home.”
Biden also said U.S. troops rescued 169 people, in what is currently the only known sortie from the airport to bring Americans “over the wall into the airport using military asset,” as he put it.
“He’s referring to a small number of people that … were very close to the perimeter,” Kirby said. “And in a short amount of time, with a short amount of distance, our — some of our troops were able to go out there and retrieve them and — and bring them in.”
Kirby demurred when asked whether more ambitious rescue missions are in the offing, despite reports French and British military personnel are conducting missions in Kabul to retrieve their citizens.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“I’m not going to speculate one way or another about potential future operations,” he said. “The main focus is on security at the airport and making sure that … air operations resume and continue as unimpeded as possible, but clearly, we will be prepared and postured, if — if we had to do something additional. But I won’t speculate right now.”
