Taliban Allowing ‘Safe Passage’ From Kabul in US Airlift

Taliban Allowing ‘Safe Passage’ From Kabul in US Airlift
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan speaks during a press briefing at the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Aug. 17, 2021. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Taliban have agreed to allow “safe passage” from Afghanistan for civilians struggling to join a U.S.-directed airlift from the capital, President Joe Biden’s national security adviser said, although a timetable for completing the evacuation of Americans, Afghan allies and others has yet to be worked out with the country’s new rulers.

Jake Sullivan on Tuesday acknowledged reports that some civilians were encountering resistance — “being turned away or pushed back or even beaten” — as they tried to reach the Kabul international airport. But he said “very large numbers” were reaching the airport and the problem of the others was being taken up with the Taliban, whose stunningly swift takeover of the country  on Sunday plunged the U.S. evacuation effort into chaos, confusion and violence.

Pentagon officials said that after interruptions on Monday, the airlift was back on track and being accelerated despite weather problems, amid regular communication with Taliban leaders. Additional U.S. troops arrived and more were on the way, with a total of more than 6,000 expected to be involved in securing the airport in coming days.

The White House said 13 flights Tuesday airlifted 1,100 U.S. citizens, permanent residents and their families from the Kabul airport, adding that the pace was expected to pick up Wednesday and through the week.

The State Department said it was sending John Bass, a former ambassador to Afghanistan, to manage the evacuation operation in Kabul, and the Pentagon said it will send Army Maj. Gen. Christopher Donohue, a special operations officer and current commander of the 82nd Airborne Division, to take command of airport security operations.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby disclosed that U.S. officers were speaking with Taliban commanders “multiple times a day” about avoiding conflict at the airport. This suggested that the new rulers of Afghanistan, who swept to power after 20 years of war against the U.S.-supported Kabul government, plan not to disrupt the evacuation. Kirby would not discuss details of the Taliban arrangement, and Sullivan said the question of how much time the Taliban will give the evacuation was still being negotiated.

Biden has said he wants the evacuation completed by Aug. 31. Sullivan declined to say whether that deadline would hold.

Gen. Frank McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command and overall commander of U.S. troops in Kabul, made an unannounced visit to the Afghan capital Tuesday. In a written statement, he said he found that military air traffic controllers and ground handlers were “rapidly scaling up” airlift operations.

McKenzie on Sunday negotiated the safe passage agreement with Taliban leaders in talks held in Doha, Qatar.

“I cautioned them against interference in our evacuation, and made it clear to them that any attack would be met with overwhelming force in the defense of our forces,” McKenzie said. “The protection of U.S. civilians and our partners is my highest priority and we will take all necessary action to ensure a safe and efficient withdrawal.”

At the White House, Sullivan said U.S. officials were engaged in an “hour by hour” process of holding the Taliban to their commitment to allow safe passage for civilians wishing to leave the country. Asked whether the Biden administration recognizes the Taliban as the legitimate rulers of Afghanistan, Sullivan said it was too soon to say and that the Taliban’s record of adhering to international human rights standards “has not been good.”

Overnight at the airport, nine Air Force C-17 transport planes arrived with equipment and about 1,000 troops, and seven C-17s took off with 700-800 civilian evacuees, including 165 Americans, Army Maj. Gen. William Taylor told a Pentagon news conference. The total included Afghans who have applied for Special Immigrant Visas and third-country nationals, he said.

The goal is to ramp up to one evacuation flight per hour by Wednesday, with 5,000 to 9,000 evacuees leaving per day, Taylor and Kirby said. Taylor said that more than 4,000 U.S. troops are now at the airport. That number is expected to top 6,000 in coming days — more than twice as many as in all of Afghanistan when Biden announced in April he would be ending the U.S. war and pulling out all troops.

On Monday the airlift had been temporarily suspended when Afghans desperate to escape the country breeched security and rushed onto the tarmac. Seven people died in several incidents. The Air Force said Tuesday that its Office of Special Investigations is investigating an incident Monday in which a C-17 transport plane taking off from Kabul airport was swarmed by desperate Afghan civilians, some of whom died. The Air Force said human remains were found in the plane’s wheel well when it landed in Qatar.

Kirby said U.S. commanders at the airport are in direct communication with Taliban commanders outside to avoid security incidents. 

He said there have been no hostile actions by the Taliban, and that several hundred members of the now-defeated Afghan army were at the airport assisting in the evacuation.

Kirby said during television interviews that plans were being made to house up to 22,000 evacuated Afghans and their families at three U.S. Army installations in the continental United States. Those locations are Camp McCoy, Wisconsin; Fort Bliss, Texas, and Fort Lee, Virginia.

Biden returned to the White House Tuesday night from the Camp David presidential retreat. On Monday, he had rejected blame for chaotic scenes of Afghans clinging to U.S. military planes in Kabul in a desperate bid to flee their home country after the Taliban’s easy victory over an Afghan military that America and NATO allies had spent two decades trying to build.

Biden called the anguish of trapped Afghan civilians “gut-wrenching” and conceded the Taliban had achieved a much faster takeover of the country than his administration had expected. The U.S. rushed in troops to protect its own evacuating diplomats and others at the Kabul airport.

But the president expressed no second thoughts about his decision to stick by the U.S. commitment, formulated during the Trump administration, to end America’s longest war, no matter what.

“I stand squarely behind my decision” to finally withdraw U.S. combat forces, Biden said.

___

Associated Press writers Darlene Superville, Matthew Lee, Eric Tucker and Mary Clare Jalonick in Washington and Kirsten Grieshaber in Berlin contributed to this report.

A+
a-
  • Afghanistan
  • National Security
  • State Departmenet
  • Taliban
  • In The News

    Health

    Voting

    International

    China to Challenge Biden's Electric Vehicle Plans at the WTO

    BEIJING (AP) — China filed a World Trade Organization complaint against the U.S. on Tuesday over what it says are... Read More

    BEIJING (AP) — China filed a World Trade Organization complaint against the U.S. on Tuesday over what it says are discriminatory requirements for electric vehicles subsidies. Starting this year, U.S. car buyers are not eligible for tax credits of $3,750 to $7,500 if critical minerals or other battery... Read More

    Leaders From Over 30 Countries Meet in Brussels to Promote Nuclear Energy

    BRUSSELS (AP) — In the shadows of a massive monument glorifying nuclear energy, over 30 leaders and delegations from around... Read More

    BRUSSELS (AP) — In the shadows of a massive monument glorifying nuclear energy, over 30 leaders and delegations from around the world backed the idea of using the controversial energy source to help achieve a climate-neutral globe while providing countries an added sense of economic and... Read More

    March 19, 2024
    by Dan McCue
    Biden Presses Netanyahu to Slow Advance Toward Planned Rafah Operation

    WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that a planned ground operation into Rafah — effectively... Read More

    WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that a planned ground operation into Rafah — effectively Gaza’s last remaining city — would be a mistake and urged him to send a senior delegation of military leaders to Washington to discuss alternative approaches... Read More

    March 14, 2024
    by Tom Ramstack
    Jewish Group Sues UN Relief Agency Saying It Supports Hamas Terrorism

    WILMINGTON, Del. — A Jewish advocacy group sued a United Nations relief agency Wednesday in Delaware for allegedly helping Hamas... Read More

    WILMINGTON, Del. — A Jewish advocacy group sued a United Nations relief agency Wednesday in Delaware for allegedly helping Hamas in its war with Israel and the murders of Israelis and Americans. The National Jewish Advocacy Center says U.N. relief workers who were supposed to be... Read More

    March 13, 2024
    by Dan McCue
    Idris Elba Helps Bring 1st Wind Farm to Sierra Leone

    LONDON — The actor and producer Idris Elba is partnering with the United Kingdom’s Octopus Energy to establish the first... Read More

    LONDON — The actor and producer Idris Elba is partnering with the United Kingdom’s Octopus Energy to establish the first wind farm in the West African nation of Sierra Leone. The project, which is expected to begin producing power later this year, will consist of up... Read More

    At Paris Gathering, Western Leaders to Show Unity for Ukraine and Signal 'Russia Cannot Win'

    PARIS (AP) — More than 20 European heads of state and government and other Western officials are gathering in a... Read More

    PARIS (AP) — More than 20 European heads of state and government and other Western officials are gathering in a show of unity for Ukraine, signaling to Russia that their support for Kyiv isn't wavering as the full-scale invasion grinds into a third year. French President Emmanuel Macron,... Read More

    News From The Well
    scroll top