The United States has said that it would deploy as many as 6,000 of its troops at Kabul airport to ensure safe departure of its citizens and those from its friends and allies from Afghanistan which has now been taken over by the Taliban, in a sudden and unprecedented collapse of the elected regime led by President Ashraf Ghani, The Economic Times reported.
US to increase its troop presence at Kabul airport to 6,000
STEPANAKERT, AUGUST 16, ARTSAKHPRESS: “At present we are completing a series of steps to secure Hamid Karzai International Airport to enable the safe departure of US and allied personnel from Afghanistan via civilian and military flights,” said a joint statement issued by the Department of State and the Defense Department.
“Over the next 48 hours, we will have expanded our security presence to nearly 6,000 troops, with a mission focused solely on facilitating these efforts and will be taking over air traffic control. Tomorrow and over the coming days, we will be transferring out of the country thousands of American citizens who have been resident in Afghanistan, as well as locally employed staff of the US mission in Kabul and their families and other particularly vulnerable Afghan nationals,” it said.
“We will accelerate the evacuation of thousands of Afghans eligible for US Special Immigrant Visas, nearly 2,000 of whom have already arrived in the United States over the past two weeks. For all categories, Afghans who have cleared security screening will continue to be transferred directly to the United States. And we will find additional locations for those yet to be screened,” the statement said.
