JAKARTA - The US military and the Taliban carried out a joint evacuation process in a 'secret' special operation to bring US citizens to Kabul airport, according to two defense officials.
Citing CNN Aug. 31, one of the officials also revealed that US special operations forces set up a 'secret gate' at the airport and set up a 'call center' to guide Americans through the evacuation process.
Officials said Americans were told to gather at a predetermined "collection point" near the airport, where the Taliban would check their credentials and then take them to a gate guarded by American troops, who stood guard to let them in in the storm. large crowds of Afghans trying to escape.
While the 'displacement' process is ongoing, US troops can observe US civilians approaching with their Taliban escorts as they advance through the crowd, preparing to 'intervene' if anything happens.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the arrangement, which has not been disclosed until now because the US is concerned about the Taliban's reaction to any publicity. As well as the threat of attack from ISIS Khorasan (ISIS-K) if its operations had realized Americans were being escorted in the group, officials said.
ISIS-K, the Taliban's arch foe, claimed responsibility for a suicide attack at the gates of Kabul airport last week that killed 13 American service members and more than 170 Afghans.
The US has had military and diplomatic contacts with the Taliban for years through political talks and deconfliction efforts, but secret evacuation arrangements between the militant group and the US military reflect an unprecedented level of tactical coordination.
While it is not known whether there is a connection, CIA Director William Burns made a very unusual visit last week to Kabul, where he met with Taliban leader Abdul Ghani Baradar as the Biden Administration struggled to keep airlift operations running smoothly.
Throughout the evacuation, Biden Administration officials stressed the Taliban were cooperating and senior officials repeatedly stressed that the militant group was committed to providing Americans with a 'safe passage'.
Taliban escort missions occur "several times a day", according to one of the officials. One of the highlights is the Interior Ministry building right outside the airport gates, where nearby US troops can easily observe the approach of the United States. Americans were notified by various messages about where to gather.
"It worked, it worked beautifully," an official said of the arrangement. On Monday, as the US completed its withdrawal, more than 122,000 people in total had been flown from Hamid Karzai International Airport since July and more than 6,000 American civilians evacuated.
It is unclear whether the Taliban, who checked credentials during this effort, rejected any of the Americans. There have been multiple reports of Americans with US passports and green card holders being evicted from Taliban checkpoints near the airport and sometimes beaten.
In another discreet arrangement that wasn't disclosed until the operation was over, troops from the elite Joint Special Operations Command and other special operations units were also on the ground helping Americans escape by contacting them through a "call center", one of the officials said.
Special operations forces set up their own secret gate at the airport, communicating directly with Americans telling them exactly where to walk, to find the gate and get inside the airport.
The secret gate allows the US military to offer some protection to US citizens to avoid the publicly known and highly vulnerable gate to Afghanistan's only airstrip for international flights.
As evacuations were underway, thousands of people thronged the gates of Kabul airport hoping to get on and onto flights, raising concerns about a terrorist attack focused on one of those entrances.
On Sunday, August 22, when he confirmed his decision not to extend the evacuation deadline beyond August 31, President Joe Biden acknowledged the growing threat from ISIS-K to airports.
"Every day we are on the ground is another day we know that ISIS-K is trying to target airports and attack US and allied forces and innocent civilians," President Biden said at the time.
Last Wednesday, a US defense official told CNN, based on a very specific threat stream, it appeared clear that ISIS-K was planning to attack crowds outside the airport. The US Embassy in Kabul warned US citizens at the airport gates to leave immediately and noted "security threats outside the gates."
Separately, US Central Command (CENTCOM) Commander General Frank McKenzie first publicly disclosed the involvement of special operations forces at a news conference Monday, saying the troops helped evacuate more than 1,000 Americans and more than 2,000 Afghans' via phone calls, vectors and escort.'
"Special operations forces reached out to help bring more than 1,064 Americans, 2,017 SIVs or Afghans in danger, and 127 third-country nationals all through phone calls, vectors, and escorts," he said.
But in public comments, McKenzie did not elaborate on JSOC's involvement which includes troops carrying out the most dangerous counterterrorism missions such as the Army's Delta Force and the Navy's Navy SEALS.
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