US President Joe Biden said Sunday he was still planning to finalize the dramatic evacuation from Afghanistan by August 31 but left the door open to extending the deadline if necessary.
In a televised address from the White House on the chaotic exit, Biden said his "hope is we will not have to extend." But he added that "we'll see what we can do" if he is asked by foreign leaders to push back the deadline.
Washington on Sunday said major airlines will help to evacuate tens of thousands of its citizens, those of other nations and Afghans, as chaos continues around Kabul airport a week after the Taliban seized control. Here is a round-up of the latest developments: -
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin enacted the rarely used Civil Reserve Air Fleet to order several airlines to help ease the bottleneck of people arriving from Kabul at US bases in the Middle East, the Pentagon said. About 25,100 people have been evacuated by the US since August 14 but tens of thousands more remain in need of rescue by America alone. "
We're going to... work as hard as we can to get as many people out as possible. And as we approach that deadline, we'll make a recommendation to the president," Austin said in an ABC interview.
Pressure is building on US President Joe Biden to extend the deadline. British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace expressed support for extending the deadline, warning that "no nation will be able to get everyone out" before August 31.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said that "it's mathematically impossible" to evacuate so many by the end of the month. The EU diplomatic mission in Kabul has 400 Afghan staff and family members eligible to emigrate to Europe -- but only 150 have been able to leave so far. A third of those on a flight that arrived in Spain on Saturday were Americans, Borrell told AFP. - Taliban blames US - The Taliban on Sunday blamed the US for the chaos at the airport.
"There is peace and calm all over the country, but there is chaos only at Kabul airport," said Taliban official Amir Khan Mutaqi.
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