On the eve of the August 31 deadline for the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, the United States will pay full attention to the evacuation of the American military. However, if necessary, civilians will also continue to be taken out of the country. This was announced on Wednesday, August 25, by Pentagon spokesman John Kirby.
"Until the very end, we will continue the necessary evacuation, if necessary, but we expect that in the last few days, given that we hope to preserve as much of our capabilities at the airport as possible, in the last few days we will give priority to the withdrawal of military and military resources," he said during a briefing broadcast on Twitter.
According to Kirby, this does not mean that those who want to leave Kabul are denied evacuation, but the United States military does not guarantee that they will be able to contact all Afghans who can count on evacuation.
He also added that Washington hopes to maintain the maximum military presence at the Kabul airport for as long as possible. However, according to the Pentagon representative, the air harbor will cease to be a US area of responsibility after the withdrawal of troops is completed.
The day before, US President Joe Biden asked the Pentagon and the State Department to make plans in case of a change in the timing of the end of the United States mission in Afghanistan. At the same time, the American leader said that compliance with the deadline for evacuation from Afghanistan (August 31) depends on coordination with the Taliban (the radical Taliban movement is recognized as a terrorist, banned in the Russian Federation). During the G7 online meeting, Biden stressed that he still intends to withdraw troops from Afghanistan before the deadline, but did not rule out extending the mission.
On August 23, the US president's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said that Washington was in no hurry to evacuate from Afghanistan, so as not to provoke a "complete crisis of confidence", but this did not save the Afghan government. According to Sullivan, the United States believes that by the end of August it will be possible to take out of Afghanistan all Americans who want to leave this country.
The Taliban have ordered the United States to withdraw troops from Afghanistan by August 31. The militants ruled out the possibility of providing additional time to continue the operation, threatening "consequences" in case of non-compliance with the deadlines.
On August 15, Taliban militants entered Kabul, then declared the "end of the war" in Afghanistan, calling it the "liberation" of the country, and raised a flag over the presidential palace. During the talks, the Taliban declared their unwillingness to form a coalition government. The type of power and the form of government will be determined in the near future. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani resigned on August 15 and left the country.
