US Defence Secy Austin assures Washington working to evacuate citizens from Afghanistan

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin has asserted that Washington is focused on the evacuation of Americans from Afghanistan. Speaking at IISS Manama Dialogue 2021, Lloyd Austin highlighted that they are making efforts to bring back the people of America willing to leave the war-torn nation, according to ANI. He added that they will continue to work in order to get the Americans and legal residents out of Afghanistan.

“We remain focused on making sure currently that we can continue to get out those American citizens and legal prominent residents that want to come out of Afghanistan. So we will work to do that,” Austin said at the IISS Manama Dialogue 2021 as per ANI.

Lloyd Austin while speaking at the IISS Manama Dialogue 2021 said that after the 20-year war in Afghanistan, when the US needed help leadership from the Middle East helped them to evacuate 124,000 people from the war-ravaged nation. The allies helped them in providing them safe transit in the Gulf and beyond. Austin lauded the efforts of troops who made efforts to save the life of innocents in Afghanistan. 

Lloyd Austin speaks on fighting terrorism

Furthermore, US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin during the speech underscored that they need to work jointly for fighting terrorism including Afghanistan, from al-Qaeda and Islamic State terror group. Moreover, Austin highlighted that the United States and Iraqi government have concerns regarding the Islamic State terror group and assured the Iraqi government that Washington will help them in fighting the IS. 

"We remain concerned about ISIS, the Iraqi government remains concerned about ISIS. We will do everything we can to help support the Iraqi government and making sure that ISIS does not have the ability to regenerate. Our efforts remain focused on training and enabling and helping the Iraqi secuirty forces also keep pressure on ISIS," Lloyd Austin said as per ANI. 

More than 28,000 people from Afghanistan have applied for temporary visas to enter the United States, however, only 100 Afghans have got the approval, ANI reported citing local media. Furthermore, the Afghan families who have permanently shifted to the US have mentioned that they were waiting for their relatives to get settled in the US, ANI reported citing the Afghan news service. It is to mention here that the Taliban gained control over the war-torn country before the complete withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan. On August 15, this year, the Taliban took over Afghanistan as they captured the country's capital, Kabul. After the Taliban takeover, countries including the United States evacuated people from Afghanistan as people tried to flee the country in order to avoid the Taliban rule. 

Inputs from ANI

Image: AP