Pentagon sending thousands of troops to Kabul to help evacuate U.S. Embassy

Source: Politico | August 12, 2021 | Quint Forgey, Nahal Toosi and Alexander Ward

The State and Defense departments confirmed the move as the Taliban continue their march toward the Afghan capital, which could be overrun soon.

The U.S. is sending thousands of troops to help evacuate a number of civilians from the American Embassy in Kabul, the State Department confirmed on Thursday, a move that comes as the Taliban are marching across Afghanistan and capturing key cities at surprising speed.

Although U.S. officials insisted that the embassy remained open and that the move did not amount to an abandonment of the country, it was an ominous sign of how quickly Afghanistan appears to be unraveling in the wake of President Joe Biden’s withdrawal of combat troops and amid flailing peace negotiations.

The Defense Department confirmed it is sending two Marine and one Army infantry battalions to aid the operation at the airport in the Afghan capital. That’s roughly 3,000 troops.

“We expect to draw down to a core diplomatic presence in Afghanistan in the coming weeks,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters at a news briefing on Thursday afternoon. “In order to facilitate this reduction, the Department of Defense will temporarily deploy additional personnel to Hamid Karzai International Airport.”

Price did not immediately give specific numbers of people being evacuated or say what figure would constitute a “core diplomatic presence.” He also dismissed questions about whether the U.S. was being caught flat-footed, insisting that the move was the result of regular, ongoing contingency planning by the administration.

……..

Viewing 1 post (of 1 total)
  • Discussion
  • Consistent #49976

Viewing 1 post (of 1 total)

You must be logged in to reply to this topic.