A contingent of F-18 fighter jets is flying “armed overwatch flights” over Kabul, according to Pentagon officials, giving American forces in Afghanistan the option of calling in airstrikes if a crisis at the airport develops.
“We maintain a watchful eye and are continuously conducting in-depth assessments to protect the safety of Americans,” Army Maj. Gen. William “Hank” Taylor told reporters. “We will use all of the tools in our arsenal to achieve this goal.”
Those fighter jets add a layer of protection above the U.S. forces deployed to Kabul’s international airport, the scene of a complicated effort to evacuate thousands of Western officials and Afghan nationals who worked with the NATO effort over the last two decades of war. That effort is complicated by the presence of Taliban militants in the capital city, who are maintaining an uneasy ceasefire with American forces throughout the withdrawal but want U.S. troops out of the country within weeks.
“Force protection is a high priority,” said Pentagon spokesman John Kirby, who briefed reporters Thursday alongside Taylor. “And we’re going to have at our disposal all the assets and resources necessary to make sure we can accomplish this mission safely and efficiently.”
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U.S. and allied officials are racing to evacuate more than 90,000 people, including roughly 11,000 Americans. Twelve C-17s have departed Kabul in the last 24 hours, but they carried only 2,000 people due to the difficulties getting civilians in position for evacuation, raising deep misgivings among Western officials and U.S. lawmakers about whether the administration will succeed in evacuating all Americans and eligible Afghan partners from the country prior to the Aug. 31 deadline for U.S. troops to leave the country.
“We are committed to the safe evacuation of as many people as quickly and as safely as possible,” Taylor said.
That deadline was set by President Joe Biden in the context of the overall U.S. exit, but there’s little clarity about whether the Taliban will break the ceasefire if American forces stay beyond that date.
“They should get their troops out of Afghanistan,” Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen said in a televised interview with British media. “[The United States] have already violated the time frame which was enshrined in the Doha agreement. Then, they announced that they will withdraw all their forces by Sept. 11, so they should withdraw all their forces.”
Pentagon officials hope to evacuate between 5,000 and 9,000 people per day, but they have evacuated only 12,000 people thus far.
“We’re very focused on making sure we get as many people out as possible and as fast as possible,” Kirby said. “You also heard the president say that if he believes that there’s a need to alter the timeline … he would revisit that at the appropriate time.”
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In the meantime, the F-18s are in position to respond to a crisis on short notice. The ability to provide close air support is something that needs to be immediate, if they — condition on the ground ever required that,” Taylor said. “We’re there to ensure that they can support the commander on the ground.”
