Joe Biden: US 'on pace' to achieve Aug 31 deadline for complete pullout from Afghanistan

Reaffirming the commitment to the August 31 deadline to withdraw from Afghanistan, US President Joe Biden said on August 24 that the country is “on pace” to complete its pullout from the war-ravaged nation. He also told the Group of Seven (G7) leaders that contingency plans were being put together in case America fails to meet the self-imposed deadline. The United States has evacuated around 70,700 people including thousands of Americans from Afghanistan since August 14, a day prior to the Taliban marching into the Afghan capital of Kabul and taking control of the country.

Biden said, “On evacuation, we agreed that we will continue to close — our close cooperation to get people out as efficiently and safely as possible.  We are currently on a pace to finish by August the 31st.  The sooner we can finish, the better.  Each day of operations brings added risk to our troops.”

“But the completion by August 31st depends upon the Taliban continuing to cooperate and allow access to the airport for those who were transport- — we’re transporting out and no disruptions to our operations,” he added.

On Tuesday, delivering remarks from the White House, Biden also said that the United States has evacuated 75,900 people since the end of July. In the past 12 hours, US President said that “19 US military flights, 18 C-17s, and one C-130 carrying approximately 6,400 evacuees and 31 coalition flights carrying 5,600 people have left Kabul” adding that a “total of 50 more flights, 12,000 more people” since the last update on Tuesday morning. He said, “These numbers are a testament to the efforts of our brave service women and men, to our diplomats on the ground in Kabul, and to our Allies still standing with us.”

UK, Spain Warn 'not everyone' will be evacuated

While the Taliban have said that it will not extend the 31 August for the ongoing evacuation missions in Afghanistan, the UK and Spain have warned that it would be impossible to take out all Afghans who worked with the western forces within that time bracket. This comes after Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid stated that even though the foreign nationals could continue travelling to the airport, the Afghans will not be allowed to leave the country. The insurgents, who took over Afghanistan on 15 August, also warned that the United States must stick to its own deadline of the month-end to withdraw all troops.

IMAGE: AP