The Pentagon released footage on Tuesday showing U.S. soldiers helping Afghan evacuees at an airbase in Kuwait.
NPR tweeted videos, explaining, “Pentagon footage shows U.S. soldiers receiving Afghan evacuees and handing out supplies at a Kuwait airbase. 5,000 Afghans are expected to pass through Kuwait ‘before heading to their final destinations,’ the U.S. ambassador said.”
Pentagon footage shows U.S. soldiers receiving Afghan evacuees and handing out supplies at a Kuwait airbase. 5,000 Afghans are expected to pass through Kuwait “before heading to their final destinations," the U.S. ambassador said. pic.twitter.com/P1dEzvbsHE
— NPR (@NPR) August 25, 2021
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was asked on Tuesday about people who are “stranded” in Afghanistan. Psaki claimed that there were no Americans who are stranded in Afghanistan, and told the media to bring her the information of people who are in Afghanistan and having a difficult time evacuating the country.
According to reports Wednesday morning, the Taliban are increasing their airport blockade and blocking Westerners from making their way to the Kabul airport.
The Daily Wire reported:
Private flights, being organized to bypass the Biden administration’s pullout, are also facing “growing obstacles,” according to The Wall Street Journal, and chartered planes, designed to rescue Americans and their allies trapped in Kabul are “flying out of Kabul with hundreds of empty seats.”
On Tuesday, the Taliban “issued an edict saying only foreigners will be able to access the airport for evacuation,” the Daily Mail reported. “A spokesperson for the group ordered locals to return home. Roads in the city have been blocked in a bid to stop Afghans from leaving.”
President Joe Biden has said that the United States will stick to its deadline of August 31st, notably making this declaration after the Taliban appeared to threaten the United States if it extended its timeline for getting out of the country.
As The Daily Wire reported:
President Joe Biden will reportedly pull U.S. forces out of Afghanistan by August 31, bucking calls from U.S. lawmakers and international leaders to extend the self-imposed deadline until evacuations are complete.
Biden’s decision risks pulling out U.S. forces before all American citizens and U.S. allies are evacuated from the country, now under Taliban control. The president’s decision comes after the Taliban threatened “consequences” against the U.S. if it failed to meet the August 31 deadline.
“Biden made the decision mindful of the security risks in remaining the country longer, the official said, and he has asked for contingency plans in case he determines at a later date the US needs to remain in the country for longer,” CNN reported.
Numerous U.S. lawmakers and allies had pushed Biden to extend the deadline and hold Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport open until all evacuations are complete. Britain Prime Minister Boris Johnson called an emergency meeting of G7 nations in part to push Biden to extend the deadline, allowing Britain, France, and other western countries to continue evacuation operations.
The Taliban threatened the U.S. over the weekend after Biden showed that he may go past the previously established deadline.
“It’s a red line. President Biden announced that on 31 August they would withdraw all their military forces. So if they extend it that means they are extending occupation while there is no need for that. … If the U.S. or UK were to seek additional time to continue evacuations — the answer is no. Or there would be consequences,” Taliban spokesman Dr. Suhail Shaheen said.
“It will create mistrust between us. If they are intent on continuing the occupation, it will provoke a reaction,” he added.