JAKARTA - US troops currently do not have the capability to help people reach Kabul airport to be evacuated from Afghanistan, as they focus on securing airfields, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Wednesday local time.
This was conveyed in line with the chaos that occurred around Kabul Airport, Afghanistan, where people were competing to be able to get flights and leave the country.
The pace of Taliban forces in retaking Afghanistan, as US and other foreign forces withdrew after 20 years of war. Causing chaos at the airport with diplomats, foreigners and Afghans trying to escape but they are blocked by numerous Taliban checkpoints.
"We're going to do everything we can to continue to try and defuse the conflict, make way for them to get to the airfield. I don't have the capability to go out and expand operations right now to Kabul," U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told reporters at the Pentagon. , citing Reuters Wednesday 18 August.
Austin said the United States was dissatisfied with how many people were evacuated.
"Obviously we're not close to where we want to be in terms of getting points," continued Austin.
US troops guarding the evacuation effort fired several shots into the air overnight to control the crowd, but there was no indication of casualties or injuries, the Pentagon said earlier on Wednesday.
Austin said there are about 4,500 US military personnel in Kabul and 'there has been no hostile interaction with the Taliban, and our lines of communication with Taliban commanders remain open.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden in an interview with ABC News, defended his handling of the crisis, saying there was no way to carry out a US withdrawal without chaos ensuing.
He also said the Taliban were cooperating for now in helping to get Americans out of the country. However, he admits to having difficulty evacuating Afghans allied with the US.
President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris discussed ways to expedite the evacuation of Americans and refugees from Afghanistan with his national security team on Wednesday, a White House official said.
President Biden did not answer questions after delivering a White House speech about the coronavirus vaccine injection.
Separately, a top US diplomat said yesterday the United States expects the Taliban to allow Afghans wishing to leave Afghanistan to leave safely.
Regarding the speed with which the Taliban took Kabul and the government, Chairman of the US military's Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley said there was no intelligence to suggest that Afghan security forces and the government would collapse in 11 days, as they did.
Milley said intelligence had clearly indicated several possible scenarios, including a takeover of the Taliban following the collapse of Afghan security forces and the government, civil war or a negotiated settlement.
"The rapid collapse timeframe, which was widely estimated and ranged from weeks to months and even years after our departure," said Milley.
Both Austin and Milley, who have served in Afghanistan, admit that troops and veterans find the images from the evacuation disturbing.
"I hear strong views from all sides on this issue, what's important is that we are each going to work this out in our own way," Austin concluded.
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