US Sends 1,000 Troops From Legendary World War II Unit To Afghanistan, Foreign Minister Blinken: This Is Not Vietnam

Illustration of American soldiers in Afghanistan. (Wikimedia Commons/The US Army)

JAKARTA - The Pentagon has authorized the deployment of 1,000 troops to help evacuate US citizens and Afghans working for them from Kabul, Afghanistan, a US official said Sunday.

Citing Reuters Monday, August 16, the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the soldiers sent were from the 82nd Airborne Division. This brings the total number of US troops in Afghanistan temporarily to 6,000.

Residents reported sporadic gunfire in the Hamid Karzai International Airport area, the main point of evacuation out of Afghanistan, as US troops assisted in personnel departures after the Taliban entered the Afghan capital.

"There are reports of the airport on fire, which is why we are instructing US citizens to take shelter in place," the US embassy said in a security alert.

Two sources familiar with the situation at the airport were unable to confirm reports of shootings there, amid an exodus of Americans, their local allies and other foreigners.

On Sunday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said US embassy staff were transported by helicopter from the diplomatic compound to the airport, about 5 km (3 miles) away on the northeast side of the city.

"We are working to ensure our personnel are safe and protected. We are moving our embassy men and women to locations at the airport," Foreign Minister Blinken told ABC News.

Asked if the evacuation prompted the US departure from Vietnam in 1975, he said: "Let's take a step back. This is definitely not Saigon."

Washington invested billions of dollars in the four US administrations in Afghanistan, giving them an advantage over the Taliban, but they were unable to defend the country in the face of militant advances, Blinken told CNN.

Sources told Reuters most US staff were expected to be evacuated from Kabul in the coming day or two.

Separately, a NATO official said all commercial flights had been suspended and only military aircraft were allowed to operate. The Alliance says it helps keep the airport running.

Meanwhile, France and Germany, NATO members, said on Sunday that they were moving their diplomats to the airport and sending military transport planes to Kabul to evacuate their citizens and their Afghan auxiliaries.

In addition to the addition of 1,000 troops, on Sunday US officials said they were considering whether more troops were needed, with 3,000 US troops on standby in Kuwait.

To note, based in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, the Airborne Division -82 is a legendary unit in the US military. World War II in Europe raised the name of this division, after being one of the troops that paved the way for Operation Overlord, the invasion of allied forces into Normandy, France, as the first step in repelling the Nazis from Europe.

Success in the operation, this unit was also involved in Operation Market Garden, the Battle of the Bulge and the German occupation at the end of World War II. Success in their mission in Europe earned them three Presidential Unit Citation awards.