The U.S. military presence will swell to nearly 6,000 troops within 48 hours, the State Department and Pentagon said in a joint statement Sunday, adding that their only mission was to help American and allied personnel depart the country. State Department spokesman Ned Price later said that U.S. forces had secured control of the airport’s perimeter.
Here are the significant developments
Emirates suspends flights to Kabul in blow to fleeing Afghan civilians
Emirates, a flag carrier airline of the United Arab Emirates, said early Monday that it has suspended flights to Kabul airport until further notice. The move came as chaotic scenes of Afghans attempting Sunday to flee Taliban control via the airport circulated on social media.
Kabul airport — the only route out of Afghanistan not controlled by the Taliban, according to the Associated Press — was shut to civilian traffic for a time and an Emirates flight that had been scheduled to land at the airport Sunday was forced to return to Dubai. The airline attributed the abandoned landing to an “unforeseen temporary closure of the runway.”
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the airport was later reopened to commercial planes.
Emirates maintains one of the largest flight networks in the region, and the suspension is yet another blow to locals who had been hoping to flee to the UAE, which has a large Afghan diaspora. Etihad, the other major airline in the UAE, does not service Kabul.
The United States has relocated its embassy personnel to the airport, and the State Department said late Sunday that U.S. forces have established control over its perimeter. American personnel are also taking charge of air traffic control at the airport. Some foreign troops, including Turks, remain on-site.
“Tomorrow and over the coming days, we will be transferring out of the country thousands of American citizens who have been resident in Afghanistan, as well as locally employed staff of the U.S. mission in Kabul and their families and other particularly vulnerable Afghan nationals,” the State Department and the Defense Department said in a joint statement.
Afghanistan’s collapse leaves allies questioning U.S. resolve on other fronts
LONDON — The Taliban's stunningly swift advances across Afghanistan have sparked global alarm, reviving doubts about the credibility of U.S. foreign policy promises and drawing harsh criticisms even from some of the United States' closest allies.
As Taliban fighters entered Kabul and the United States scrambled to evacuate its citizens, concerns grew that the unfolding chaos could create a haven for terrorists, unleash a major humanitarian disaster and trigger a new refugee exodus.
U.S. allies complain that they were not fully consulted on a policy decision that potentially puts their own national security interests at risk — in contravention of President Biden's promises to recommit to global engagement.
And many around the world are wondering whether they could rely on the United States to fulfill long-standing security commitments stretching from Europe to East Asia.
U.S. takes steps to secure airport, traffic control amid exodus
U.S. officials said Sunday they were taking steps to secure Kabul’s airport to enable civilian and military flights to depart safely, as photos and videos showed chaotic scenes of thousands of foreign nationals and Afghans trying to board flights.
In a joint statement Sunday, the State Department and the Pentagon said that the United States will expand its security presence to nearly 6,000 troops within the next 48 hours. U.S. forces will also take over responsibility for air traffic control.
Over the coming days, the United States plans to evacuate thousands of American citizens from Afghanistan, as well as local staff employed by the U.S. mission in Kabul, their families and other particularly vulnerable Afghan nationals, officials said.
The U.S. government will also accelerate the evacuation of thousands of Afghans eligible for Special Immigrant Visas, nearly 2,000 of whom have already arrived in the United States over the past two weeks.
As the Taliban encircled and then entered Kabul on Sunday, U.S. personnel at the embassy in Afghanistan relocated to the airport along with acting ambassador Ross Wilson, who left the sprawling diplomatic compound with the American flag. As of late Sunday, “all embassy personnel” had been moved to the airport, said State Department spokesman Ned Price.
More than 60 nations released a joint statement Sunday calling on all parties in Afghanistan “to respect and facilitate, the safe and orderly departure of foreign nationals and Afghans who wish to leave the country.”
The British ambassador reportedly stayed behind at Kabul airport to help process visas for Afghan staff that had worked for London.
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