A huge international airlift of foreigners and Afghans who worked with them continued on Tuesday as thousands of people terrified at the prospect of Taliban rule flocked to Kabul airport.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance would send additional aircraft to bolster the operation after member states met on Tuesday, adding that evacuations were “gradually resuming” following chaotic scenes on Monday after commercial flights were halted.
In addition to aircraft, the US has sent military reinforcements to protect the exodus, with troop numbers swelling to 4,000 on Tuesday.
Major General Hank Taylor, a top military official, said the US aimed to increase its airlift to one aircraft an hour so that between 5,000 and 9,000 passengers could be carried out per day.
“We are confident we have taken the right steps to resume safe and orderly operations at the airport,” he said.
The United States “has the responsibility and the means” to evacuate Afghans who helped Washington in Afghanistan, former US President George W. Bush, who launched the US offensive in the country 20 years ago, said Tuesday.
The US plans to evacuate more than 30,000 people by plane from Kabul to its military bases in Kuwait and Qatar.
Washington said Tuesday the Taliban had promised safe passage for civilians wanting to leave via the airport.
“The Taliban have informed us they are prepared to provide the safe passage of civilians to the airport, and we intend to hold them to that commitment,” National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told White House reporters.
The US was also “talking” with the Taliban about the timetable for the removal of thousands of American citizens and Afghans fleeing the country on US military aircraft, he said.
He added that President Joe Biden has not spoken with fellow world leaders since Kabul fell.
“He has not yet spoken with any other world leaders,” Sullivan said.
“Myself, Secretary (Antony) Blinken, several other senior members of the team have been engaged on a regular basis with foreign counterparts and we intend to do so in the coming days.”
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