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The US embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, was successfully evacuated on Sunday evening, said State Department spokesman Ned Price. “All embassy staff are located on the premises of Hamid Karzai International Airport, the area around which is secured by the US military,” added Price.
A Defense Ministry official said on Sunday that 1,000 soldiers will be sent to the airport in Kabul, Afghanistan when the capital fell into the hands of the Taliban. The breathtaking development unfolded quickly on Sunday when Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has fled Kabul and the US evacuated Americans from the country.
The additional troops will bring the total number of authorized military personnel in Kabul to 6,000, of whom 3,000 are now on the ground.
There are still sporadic commercial flights from Kabul International Airport, which is operated by the US military. There have been reports of sporadic gunfire around the airport, but a Defense Department official said the housing layout was an attempt to control the flow of people at the airport.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has ruled that there will be “no vacancies,” which means that every plane from Kabul International Airport must be full. It is unclear how many US citizens are still living in the country.
The Taliban took control of the presidential palace on Sunday. Ghani said on Sunday that he left Afghanistan to save the country from bloodshed.
“[The] The Taliban won the verdict by sword and gun and are now responsible for protecting the honor, wealth and self-esteem of compatriots, “Ghani wrote, according to an automated translation on Facebook.
General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told senators in a briefing that al-Qaeda could now rebuild faster than originally estimated in two years. Austin said he also needs to reconsider his own estimates.
The White House tried to project an image of calm and tweeted it President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris met with national security officials and other senior officials across Afghanistan.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken rejected any comparison with the US withdrawal from Vietnam. “This is obviously not Saigon,” said Blinken on ABC’s This Week.
The UN Security Council has called an emergency meeting for Monday morning.
Hamed Sarfarazi / AP
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