THE US military currently has the capacity to evacuate between 5,000 and 9,000 people a day from Kabul.
However, evacuations so far have not been occurring at that rate, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby acknowledged.
Kirby said the US military is working to try to get up to the point where they can evacuate several thousand people in any given day.
Asked how many American citizens remain in Afghanistan, Kirby said, “I don’t know.”
According to ABC News, some evacuation flights are taking off with only half of the available seats filled due to the chaos outside Kabul international airport.
Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said the focus of US troops in Kabul remains on ensuring the security of the airfield.
“As we speak, there’s no plans to expand beyond that,” Kirby said.
The press secretary’s comments come amid reports that some American citizens and Afghan allies have had trouble accessing the airport due to safety concerns at Taliban checkpoints.
The Pentagon press secretary, John Kirby, was asked about whether Kabul evacuations will continue past the current 31 August deadline.
“There has been no decision to change the deadline, and we are focused on doing everything we can inside that deadline to move as many people out as possible,” Kirby said.
“If and when there’s a decision to change that, then obviously that would require additional conversations with the Taliban as well.”
Joe Biden indicated yesterday that he was open to extending the August 31 deadline, telling ABC News, “If there’s American citizens left, we’re going to stay until we get them all out.”
