:quality(75)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/elcomercio/R6TS2DH75ZEFXAFJIH4J2RCASA.jpeg "US announces it will continue evacuations from Kabul for the next weeks")
United States evacuation flights will continue “for the next few weeks” from the airport of Kabul for Afghan citizens and collaborators “in a safe and orderly manner,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby reported on Tuesday after the scenes of chaos and anguish experienced on Monday by the Taliban seizure of the Afghan capital.
“We are going to work really hard in the coming weeks to get as many of us out of the country as we can.” Kirby said in an interview on the public radio network NPR.
United States resumed military flights at the Kabul airport on Monday, after interrupting them due to the chaos unleashed in recent hours by the irruption of hundreds of Afghans on the runways in an attempt to get on the flights destined to evacuate Americans and their allies.
Kirby reiterated the Pentagon’s commitment to complete the withdrawal in “a safe and orderly manner” and indicated that US troops have the capacity to transfer 5,000 to 9,000 people a day from Afghanistan.
“Our military focus is totally centered on the airport. Making sure that we can maintain and operate it, that we maintain security and stability there,” he added.
In recent days, the US has deployed 6,000 troops to Afghanistan and another 1,000 are on the way to assist with evacuation efforts.
The Pentagon has announced that the evacuated Afghans will be transferred to three US military bases in the states of Wisconsin, Virginia and Texas while their visas are being processed.
The Taliban seized control of Kabul on Sunday after its fighters entered the capital without meeting resistance, with almost all the provinces under their control, and the flight of hitherto Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.