The US troops in Afghanistan have begun withdrawing from the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, the Pentagon confirmed on Saturday, as the last date for the complete drawdown of US from Afghanistan, August 31, approaches.
Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby confirmed the development during a press briefing on the day.
Meanwhile, the Taliban has secured the control of three gates at the Kabul airport and some other areas after the US soldiers have left the gates, the group said, according to a report by Afghan news website TOLOnews.
The announcement from the Pentagon came as several countries are eyeing the end of the civilian evacuations from Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover. Earlier in the day, the UK military said that the country would stop the evacuation of civilians and would carry on with bringing back the country’s armed forces. The last flight carrying civilians to Britain departed from Kabul. However, the country’s defence ministry had said that some Afghan civilians would be airlifted along with the British armed forces on the remaining flights.
Following the Taliban’s seizure of Kabul, US President Joe Biden has deployed an additional 5,000 troops in the country to secure the international airport. On August 20, Biden also confirmed that close to 6,000 US armed forces were present in Afghanistan to assist in the civilian departure from the country.
Approximately 6,800 people were evacuated from Kabul in a 24-hour period ending on Saturday, of whom, 4,000 were carried by 32 US military aircraft and 2,800 were carried by 34 flights belonging to coalition countries, the White House said. ‘Since August 14, the U.S. has evacuated and facilitated the evacuation of approximately 111,900 people. Since the end of July, we have re-located approximately 117,500 people,’ it further said. Nearly 5,000 people were reportedly present inside the Kabul airport awaiting evacuation out of the country.
The complete withdrawal of US troops, scheduled to end on August 31, would mark the end of the US’ two-decade-long war in Afghanistan.
(With agency inputs)
