Biden planning to give an update on situation in Afghanistan

By ROBERT BURNS and DARLENE SUPERVILLE

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. subject is considering “creative ways” to get Americans and others into the Kabul airdrome for evacuation from Afghanistan amid “acute” information threats, Biden medication officials said, and the Pentagon connected Sunday ordered six U.S. commercialized airlines to assistance determination evacuees from impermanent sites extracurricular of Afghanistan.

At the one-week people since the Taliban completed its takeover of the country, the U.S.-directed airlift from Kabul continued Sunday adjacent arsenic U.S. officials expressed increasing interest astir the menace from the Islamic State group. That interest comes connected apical of obstacles to that ngo from the Taliban, arsenic good arsenic U.S. authorities bureaucratic problems.

President Joe Biden met with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and different members of his nationalist information squad to sermon the concern successful Afghanistan, the White House said., and planned to supply a nationalist update connected Afghanistan aboriginal successful the day. Afghanistan volition beryllium the main taxable of treatment erstwhile Biden and leaders of the Group of Seven industrialized nations conscionable virtually connected Tuesday.

“The menace is real, it is acute, it is persistent and thing we’re focused with each instrumentality successful our arsenal,” said Biden’s nationalist information adviser, Jake Sullivan.

Sullivan said connected CNN’s “State of the Union” that 3,900 radical had been airlifted retired of Kabul connected U.S. subject flights implicit the past 24 hours. A U.S. defence official, speaking connected information of anonymity to supply details not yet made public, said those radical were flown connected a full of 23 flights — 14 by C-17 transports and 9 aboard C-130 cargo planes.

That represents an summation from 1,600 flown retired aboard U.S. subject planes successful the erstwhile 24 hours, but remains acold beneath the 5,000 to 9,000 that the subject says it has the capableness to airlift daily. Sullivan besides said astir 3,900 radical were airlifted connected non-U.S. subject flights implicit the past 24 hours.

The Biden medication has fixed nary steadfast estimation of the fig of Americans seeking to permission Afghanistan. Some person enactment the full betwixt 10,000 and 15.000. Sullivan connected Sunday enactment it astatine “several thousand.”

Speaking connected ABC’s “This Week,” Austin said that arsenic Biden’s Aug. 31 deadline for ending the evacuation cognition approaches, helium volition urge whether to springiness it much time. Tens of thousands of Americans and others person yet to beryllium flown retired of the country.

Austin’s interrogation with ABC aired Sunday but was taped Saturday. In a announcement Sunday, the State Department urged radical seeking to permission Afghanistan arsenic portion of an organized backstage evacuation effort not travel to the Kabul airdrome “until you person received circumstantial instructions” to bash truthful from the U.S. Embassy’s formation organizer. The announcement said that others, including American citizens, who person received circumstantial instructions from the embassy to marque their mode to the airdrome should bash so.

Austin said the airlift would proceed for arsenic agelong arsenic possible.

“We’re gonna effort our precise champion to get everybody, each American national who wants to get out, out,” Austin said successful the interview. “And we’ve got — we proceed to look astatine antithetic ways to — successful originative ways — to scope retired and interaction American citizens and assistance them get into the airfield.” He aboriginal said this included non-Americans who suffice for evacuation, including Afghans who person applied for Special Immigrant Visas.

Austin noted that the U.S. subject connected Thursday had utilized helicopters to determination 169 Americans into the airdrome from the grounds of a adjacent edifice successful the capital. That is the lone announced lawsuit of U.S. forces going beyond the airdrome to get evacuees.

The British subject said Sunday different 7 radical had been killed successful the unceasing crush of crowds extracurricular the airport. The U.S. subject took power of the airdrome for evacuations a week agone arsenic the superior fell to the Taliban. But Taliban forces controlling the streets astir the airport, and the throngs of radical gathering extracurricular successful anticipation of escape, person made it hard and unsafe for foreigners and their Afghan allies to get through.

Republicans successful Congress stepped up their disapproval of Biden’s response. “If the Taliban is saying that Americans tin question safely to the airport, past determination is nary amended mode to marque definite they get safely to the airdrome than to usage our subject to escort them,” GOP Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa, an Army veteran, said connected ABC’s “This Week.”

Ryan Crocker, who served arsenic U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan nether Presidents George W, Bush and Barack Obama, told CBS’ “Face the Nation” that Biden’s absorption of the withdrawal was “catastrophic” and had unleashed a “global crisis.”

A cardinal occupation successful the evacuation cognition is processing evacuees erstwhile they scope different countries successful the portion and successful Europe. Those impermanent waystations, including successful Qatar, Bahrain and Germany, are sometimes reaching capacity, though caller sites are being made available, including successful Spain.

In an effort to alleviate that, and to escaped up subject craft for missions from Kabul, the Pentagon connected Sunday activated the Civil Reserve Air Fleet. The Defense Department said 18 craft from American Airlines, Atlas Air, Delta Air Lines, Omni Air, Hawaiian Airlines and United Airlines volition beryllium directed to ferry evacuees from interim waystations. The airlines volition not alert into Afghanistan. The six participating airlines person agreed to assistance for a small little than 2 weeks, which astir coincides with the presently planned duration of the airlift, which is to extremity Aug. 31.

The civilian hose reserve strategy was past activated successful 2003 for the Iraq War. The commercialized airliners volition clasp their civilian presumption but the military’s Air Mobility Command volition power the flights.

___

Associated Press writers Lolita C. Baldor, Ellen Knickmeyer, Hope Yen and Matthew Lee contributed to this report.