Biden orders 1,000 more troops to aid Afghanistan departure

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden authorized connected Saturday an further 1,000 U.S. troops for deployment to Afghanistan, raising to astir 5,000 the fig of U.S. troops to guarantee what Biden called an “orderly and harmless drawdown” of American and allied personnel.

U.S. troops volition besides assistance successful the evacuation of Afghans who worked with the subject during the astir two-decade war.

The last-minute determination to re-insert thousands of U.S. troops into Afghanistan reflected the dire authorities of information arsenic the Taliban seized power of aggregate Afghan cities successful a fewer abbreviated days. The request for much forces besides called into question whether Biden would conscionable his Aug. 31 deadline for afloat withdrawing combat forces.

In a connection Saturday, Biden didn’t explicate the breakdown of the 5,000 troops helium said had been deployed. But a defence authoritative said successful a media connection that the president had approved Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s proposal that the pb battalion of the 82nd Airborne Brigade Combat Team assistance successful the State Department’s drawdown.

Initially 1,000 troops were successful spot to assistance with the withdrawal, and medication officials rapidly judged that full to beryllium insufficient. An further contingent of Marines arrived successful Kabul arsenic portion of a 3,000-troop unit intended to unafraid an airlift of U.S. Embassy unit and Afghan allies arsenic Taliban insurgents approached the outskirts of the capital. The further 1,000 troops approved Saturday appeared to bring the full to 5,000.

After an beforehand radical of Marines arrived connected Friday, much flowed into the Kabul planetary airdrome connected Saturday, said Navy Capt. William Urban, a spokesperson for U.S. Central Command. Citing operational security, Urban declined to supply circumstantial numbers. The Pentagon said connected Friday that the bulk of the 3,000 — comprising 2 battalions of Marines and 1 of Army soldiers — were owed by the extremity of the weekend.

Officials person stressed that the recently arriving troops’ ngo is constricted to assisting the airlift of embassy unit and Afghan allies, and they expect to implicit it by month’s end. But they mightiness person to enactment longer if the embassy is threatened by a Taliban takeover of Kabul by then.

As the concern successful Afghanistan rapidly worsened, Biden, who is spending the play astatine Camp David, and Vice President Kamala Harris held a unafraid video league connected Saturday greeting with nationalist information officials. They discussed efforts to trim the fig of U.S. civilians successful Afghanistan, evacuate Afghans who worked with the U.S. authorities and the fast-moving changes connected the ground, the White House said.

On Saturday, the Taliban captured Mazar-e-Sharif, a ample heavy defended metropolis successful bluish Afghanistan, and closed successful connected Kabul by taking the Logar state conscionable to the south. The Taliban person made large advances successful caller days, including capturing Herat and Kandahar, the country’s second- and third-largest cities.

“Clearly from their actions, it appears arsenic if they are trying to get Kabul isolated,” Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said, referring to the Taliban’s speedy and businesslike takedown of large provincial capitals this past week.

Biden had fixed the Pentagon until Aug. 31 to implicit the withdrawal of the 2,500 to 3,000 troops that were successful Afghanistan erstwhile helium announced successful April that helium was ending U.S. engagement successful the war. That fig has dropped to conscionable nether 1,000, and each but astir 650 are scheduled to beryllium gone by the extremity of the month; the 650 are to stay to assistance support the U.S. diplomatic presence, including with craft and antiaircraft weapons astatine the Kabul airport.

But Thursday’s determination to dispatch 3,000 caller troops to the airdrome adds a caller twist to the U.S. withdrawal. There is nary treatment of rejoining the war, but the fig of troops needed for information volition beryllium connected decisions astir keeping the embassy unfastened and the grade of a Taliban menace to the superior successful coming days.

Having the Aug. 31 deadline walk with thousands of U.S. troops successful the state would beryllium awkward for Biden fixed his insistence connected ending the 20-year U.S. warfare by that date. Republicans person already criticized the withdrawal arsenic a mistake and ill-planned, though there’s small governmental appetite by either enactment to nonstop caller troops to combat the Taliban.

Kirby declined connected Friday to sermon immoderate appraisal of whether the Taliban are apt soon to converge connected Kabul, but the urgent question of other U.S. troops into Afghanistan to assistance the embassy drawdown is wide grounds of Washington’s interest that aft the accelerated autumn of large cities this week with comparatively small Afghan authorities resistance, Kabul is endangered.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani delivered a televised code Saturday, his archetypal nationalist quality since the caller Taliban gains, and pledged not to springiness up the “achievements” of the 20 years since the U.S. toppled the Taliban aft the 9/11 attacks.

The Biden medication has asserted that Afghan information forces person tangible advantages implicit the insurgents, including a viable aerial unit and superior numbers. The connection serves to item the information that what the Afghan forces deficiency is information to combat successful a condition wherever the Taliban look to person decisive momentum.

Stephen Biddle, a prof of planetary and nationalist affairs astatine Columbia University, said successful an interrogation the announcement that 3,000 U.S. troops were heading to Kabul to assistance propulsion retired American diplomats and embassy unit apt made Afghan morale adjacent worse.

“The connection that sent to Afghans is: ‘The metropolis of Kabul is going to autumn truthful accelerated that we can’t signifier an orderly withdrawal from the embassy,’” Biddle said. This suggests to Afghans that the Americans spot small aboriginal for the authorities and that “this spot could beryllium toast wrong hours.”

The Pentagon besides is moving an further 4,500 to 5,000 troops to bases successful the Gulf countries of Qatar and Kuwait, including 1,000 to Qatar to velocity up visa processing for Afghan translators and others who fearfulness retribution from the Taliban for their past enactment with Americans, and their household members.

The State Department said the embassy successful Kabul volition stay partially staffed and functioning, but Thursday’s determination to evacuate a important fig of embassy unit and bring successful the thousands of further U.S. troops is simply a motion of waning assurance successful the Afghan government’s quality to clasp disconnected the Taliban surge. The Biden medication has not ruled retired a afloat embassy evacuation oregon perchance relocating embassy operations to the Kabul airport.

There were a small implicit 4,000 unit inactive astatine the embassy; the State Department has not said however galore are being pulled retired successful the adjacent 2 weeks.

The Biden medication warned Taliban officials straight that the U.S. would respond if the Taliban attacked Americans during the stepped-up deployments and evacuations.

AP Diplomatic writer Matthew Lee contributed to this report.