US President Joe Biden said Tuesday that 70,700 people have been evacuated since Aug. 14 and 75,900 people since the end of July. He added that "another 19 US military flights, 18 C-17s and one C-130 carrying approximately 6,400 evacuees and 31 coalition flights carrying 5,600 people have left Kabul just in the last 12 hours. "We are currently on a pace to finish by Aug. 31," Biden affirmed. "The sooner we can finish the better." He stressed, "The completion by Aug. 31 depends on the Taliban continuing to cooperate and allow access to the airport to those who are transporting out and no disruptions to our operation." "In addition, I've asked the Pentagon and the State Department for contingency plans to adjust the timetable should that become necessary," he continued. He affirmed that he is "determined to ensure that we complete our mission, this mission. I'm also mindful of the increasing risks that I have been briefed on and the need to factor those risks in. They're real, and significant challenges that we also have to take into consideration." President Biden noted "the longer we say, starting with the acute and growing risk of an attack by a terrorist group known as (IS)-K, an (IS) affiliate in Afghanistan, which is the sworn enemy of the Taliban as well. "Every day we're on the ground is another day we know (IS)-K is seeking to target the airport and attack both US and allied forces and innocent civilians." "Thus far, the Taliban have been taking steps to work with us so we can get our people out but it's a tenuous situation," he remarked. Regarding his discussion with the other G7 leaders this morning, Biden said "we had a productive discussion". "There was strong agreement among the leaders, both about the evacuation mission underway as well as the need to coordinate our approach to Afghanistan as we move forward," he added. "We agreed that we will stand united in our approach to the Taliban. We agreed the legitimacy of any future government depends on the approach it now takes to uphold their international obligations, including to prevent Afghanistan from being used as a base for terrorism. "And we agreed that none of us are going to take the Taliban's word for it. We'll judge them by their actions," he continued. He stressed, "We must all work together to resettle thousands of Afghans who ultimately qualify for refugee status." Furthermore, Biden noted that he had asked Secretary of State Antony Blinken to give on Wednesday "an update and a detailed report on exactly how many Americans are still in Afghanistan, how many we got out and what our projection is." According to several media outlets, the US has started withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan. Tens of thousands of people remain to join the airlift, which has been slowed by security issues and US bureaucracy hurdles. Biden asserted, without a full explanation, that US forces have managed to improve access to the airport for Americans and others seeking to get on flights. He suggested that the perimeter had been extended, widening a "safe zone." "What I'm not going to do is talk about the tactical changes we're making to make sure we maintain as much security as we can," he said. "We have constantly, how can I say it, increased rational access to the airport, where more folk can get there more safely. It's still a dangerous operation but I don't want to go into the detail of how we're doing that." Biden and his top aides have repeatedly cited their concern that extremist groups in Afghanistan will attempt to exploit the chaos around the Kabul airport. "The threat is real, it is acute, it is persistent and something we're focused with every tool in our arsenal," said Biden's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan. Speaking on ABC's "This Week," Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said that as Biden's Aug. 31 deadline for ending the evacuation operation approaches, he would recommend whether to give it more time. Tens of thousands of Americans and others have yet to be flown out of the country. Austin said the airlift would continue for as long as possible. "We're gonna try our very best to get everybody, every American citizen who wants to get out, out," Austin said in the interview. "And we've got — we continue to look at different ways to — in creative ways — to reach out and contact American citizens and help them get into the airfield." — Agencies
