US removes more than 10,000 people from Kabul in one day

The United States evacuated 10,400 people from Kabul airport yesterday with military planes. In addition, 61 allied planes took about 5,900 people to Hamid Karzai Airport.

According to a White House official, the total number of people evacuated by or with the help of Americans has risen to 37,000 since August 14. It is not known how many people with American passports were evacuated.

Huge crowd outside #Acceptance airport. Everyone wants to enter the airport in the hope of being evacuated and running away #Afghanistan . How many of them will be lucky? pic.twitter.com/KwVJQxM4wQ

– Sudhir Chaudhary (@sudhirchaudhary) August 20, 2021

The US government’s target was between 10,000 and 15,000 Americans to come back. Several tens of thousands of former employees and others at risk as a result of the Sunni extremist takeover of the Taliban are also said to be brought to safety. Over the weekend, US media reported that only 2,500 Americans participated in the evacuation flights in a week.

About 6,000 US military personnel at Kabul airport.

There are approximately 6,000 American military personnel at the airport, and the United States controls the airspace over Afghanistan. President Joe Biden wants to complete the operation on August 31. His allies urge his troops to stay there longer. Western leaders of the G7 group will discuss it on Tuesday. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will urge Biden to extend the deadline. The Taliban have said they disagree and the “occupation” cannot continue. You can read who the Taliban are and what they want to accomplish here.

The British Air Force evacuated around 6,000 people from Kabul. This week, authorities expect the Air Force to collect another 6,000. There are currently 1,800 Afghan citizens identified and eligible for evacuation and acceptance as refugees. In addition, there are at least 2,275 people listed as local allies. But the lists of people to be recovered are growing.

Evacuating people from Afghanistan is difficult

The Netherlands is also busy evacuating Afghanistan. Hundreds of people with Dutch passports are still detained in Afghanistan. This was stated by outgoing Foreign Minister Sigrid Kaag to the Council of Ministers last week. Getting people to and from the airport is hard work. There is a lot of chaos there right now. Especially people with Afghan passports are difficult to evacuate. A solution is always sought to put people to safety. “We are working closely with Germany, which still had a military presentation, and the UK,” Kaag said.

People at the airport report it’s chaotic. They can hardly pass, because there are many Afghans who fear for their lives and want to flee. The Americans keep the airport, so it is a kind of western island in Afghanistan, after the takeover by the radical Islamist Taliban. There are also Taliban roadblocks at the airport.

Afghan woman gives birth on plane during Kabul evacuation