The United States and several other world powers are attempting to lead their countries’ citizens and qualified refugees through a harrowing escape via Kabul’s airport in Afghanistan, largely considered to be the only way out of the embattled nation after the Taliban staked a ruling claim in the region.
Earlier in the week, Taliban militants swept over numerous cities in Afghanistan, scattering the nation’s army and sending Kabul into chaos as hundreds descended on the airport hoping to evade the new regime. The U.S. has since announced plans for a total of 7,000 troops, including multiple Marine battalions and the Army’s 82nd Airborne, to be deployed to the region on a mission to extract diplomats from the embassy, as well as recipients of the SIV program, short for Special Immigrant Visas for Afghans, which grants asylum to residents of the country who worked for the U.S. government in some capacity.
On Monday, Afghans were seen blocking runways and clinging to departing aircraft, a move that led to the release of footage purportedly showing bodies plummeting to their deaths once the transport planes reached high altitudes. The mayhem, during which at least seven people were pronounced dead, prompted the military to kill two armed individuals at the airport Monday, the Pentagon said. The U.S. then halted rescue operations temporarily.
Extraction efforts have since resumed under the watchful eye of 3,500 service members stationed in the area. So far, the U.S. has removed 700 people from the country, including 150 U.S. citizens, an official with knowledge of the matter told Fox News.
PENTAGON WARNS TALIBAN AGGRESSION AT KABUL AIRPORT WILL BE MET WITH FORCE
However, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby estimated Tuesday that between 5,000 and 10,000 U.S. citizens still remain in or around the Kabul area. The new capabilities afford the U.S. the opportunity to remove between 5,000 and 9,000 individuals per day, but U.S. citizens are not the sole focus of the operation, Kirby said.
The Department of Defense revealed that it planned to house up to 30,000 Afghan refugees on military bases, including Fort Bliss in Texas and Fort McCoy in Wisconsin. Another issue facing the Pentagon is a lack of control in the areas outside of Kabul.
“Right now, though, I don’t want to set the expectation that we are equipped and able to go out into the countryside and physically move people into Kabul,” Kirby said Tuesday on a segment of CNN’s New Day.
The Taliban, through Suhail Shaheen, one of the militant group’s spokesmen, vowed not to attack U.S. personnel. Reports suggest, however, that the Taliban are attempting to obstruct extraction efforts. Several former defense officials said the Taliban have “a ring outside of the airport and won’t let anyone inside it,” according to Fox.
“The big issue here is that no people outside of the Taliban ring will get in,” an official reportedly remarked.
Earlier in the day, Kirby warned the Taliban that efforts to disrupt “people or operations at the airport” would be met with force.
“Any attack on our people or on our operations at the airport will be met with a swift and forceful unambiguous response,” the Pentagon spokesman said.
Maj. Gen. Hank Taylor, the vice director for logistics of the Joint Staff, said he has yet to encounter violence from the Taliban.
“We have had no hostile interactions, no attack, and no threat by the Taliban,” he said during a press conference Tuesday. “We remain vigilant. We also have not experienced any additional security incidents at [Hamid Karzai International Airport]. We retain the security at HKIA that enables the safe, orderly evacuation of Americans and Afghans.”
Other nations are struggling to recoup their personnel. On Monday, a German evacuation plane was forced to land in Uzbekistan’s capital, Tashkent, after circling the Kabul runway for over an hour. A Berlin official previously said efforts to extract people from the airport were unsuccessful due to crowds blocking takeoff lanes.
In the United Kingdom, Defense Secretary Ben Wallace indicated that “some people won’t get back” to the U.K. He said, “It’s sad that the West has done what it’s done.”
Uzbekistan, which borders Afghanistan, has quickly become a hotbed for evacuees in the region. At least 585 Afghan soldiers jetted to the country on 22 military planes and 24 helicopters. An additional 158 military personnel crossed into the nation on foot.
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One Afghan military jet was shot down by Uzbek authorities after it attempted to cross the country’s border “illegally.”
Representatives for the White House and the Pentagon did not immediately respond to the Washington Examiner’s requests for comment.
