US President Joe Biden on Sunday said his administration is considering extending an Aug. 31 deadline to exit Afghanistan, CNBC reported.
Biden says some 33,000 people have been evacuated from Afghanistan since July
STEPANAKERT, AUGUST 23, ARTSAKHPRESS: In a press conference, Biden said the U.S. has a “long way to go and a lot could still go wrong” amid the chaotic evacuation of Americans and Afghan allies from Kabul after the Taliban took over Afghanistan one week ago.
“The evacuation of thousands of people from Kabul is going to be hard and painful no matter when it started, when we began,” the president said during a press conference at the White House. He said that “our hope is that we will not have to extend” the deadline.
“It would have been true if we had started a month ago, or a month from now. There is no way to evacuate this many people without pain,” Biden said.
The Biden administration is facing criticism of its handling of the overall U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. The withdrawal, announced earlier this year, has been beset by chaos.
Thousands of people have crowded the Kabul airport and some even plunged to their deaths after clinging to the exterior of a US military aircraft while attempting to leave the country. Seven Afghan civilians were killed in crowds attempting the enter Kabul’s airport, according to the British military.
The president said US forces continue to make progress on evacuations from Kabul. Up to 33,000 people have been evacuated since July, including 28,000 since August 14 and 11,000 over the weekend, Biden said.
He also defended his decision to withdraw the U.S. from the country, arguing that it was the “logical, rational and right decision to make.”
