Pentagon Confirms U.S. Has Resumed Air Operations in Kabul

John Kirby, the Pentagon property secretary, said that the United States has resumed its aerial operations astatine the Hamid Karzai International Airport successful Kabul and moving to support security. The U.S. has flown successful astir 1,000 troops into Afghanistan, helium said, bringing the full fig of troops successful the state to 3,500. 700 to 800 individuals person been flown retired of Afghanistan successful the past 24 hours; astir 150 of them are Americans.

Military craft tin support flying successful and retired of the rapidly collapsing state arsenic soon arsenic each troops are in, helium said.

“Just connected the subject craft alone, we judge we tin get between 5 and 9,000 radical out per day. Of course, immoderate of that’s upwind dependent, obviously information dependent,” helium said. “That’s conscionable the subject side. We privation the civilian broadside of the airport to stay unfastened arsenic well, so commercialized flights tin and are capable to get themselves in and out.”

Kirby stressed that the military’s ngo volition stay securing the airport, noting helium would not privation to “set the anticipation that we are equipped and capable to spell retired into the countryside and physically determination radical into Kabul.”

Yesterday, the Pentagon warned of a worsening panic menace arsenic the Taliban seized Kabul. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said helium wants to “reassess” the imaginable for violent groups to rebuild their forces wrong Afghanistan successful the aftermath of the Taliban takeover.

However, Secretary of State Antony Blinken argued that the United States tin usage the Taliban’s tendency for legitimacy connected the planetary signifier arsenic a means to support violent groups successful check.

“The Taliban person a definite self-interest successful this. They cognize what happened the past clip they harbored a violent radical that attacked the United States. It’s not successful their self-interest to let a repetition of that,” Blinken told “Meet the Press.”