2:57
- ABC News
- August 16, 2021
Chaos at Kabul airport amid struggle to flee
President Joe Biden is set to address the nation as the crisis intensifies.
2:57
The increase of service members in Kabul follows Gen. Frank McKenzie, the commander of U.S. Central Command, meeting with representatives of the Taliban earlier Sunday in Doha, Qatar, to inform them not to interfere with the U.S. mission at the airport, according to a U.S. official.
As the Taliban advanced last week, the U.S. State Department announced it was reducing its staff levels at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul and the Pentagon began sending in U.S. troops to help facilitate departures of Americans and Afghan allies.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby provided an update to reporters on the worsening crisis in Afghanistan on Monday afternoon.
He said U.S. forces at the Kabul airport, along with troops from Turkey and other countries, are working \"to clear the area of people\" and \"restore operations at the airport.\"
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/US/kabul-airport-people-tarmac-ht-jc-210816_1629131382184_hpEmbed_21x13_384.jpg\")
\"We do not know how long this will take certainly seeing all the dramatic video coming from the airport today and we obviously don't want anyone else to get hurt. So we're going to work methodically in coming hours to restore a safe and secure environment so that air operations can resume,\" he said in an off-camera briefing.
Kirby said there were security incidents at the airport Sunday night \"involving armed individuals, shooting at U.S. forces,\" and that the U.S. responded in self-defense with fatal fire.
\"I want to reiterate that while our mission is not offensive, forces have the inherent right of self-defense, and they will respond accordingly to threats and attacks to separate incidents. U.S. forces did respond to hostile threats that resulted in the death of two armed individuals on the support for vulnerable or at-risk Afghan citizens,\" he said, adding that the individuals were Taliban.
Kirby confirmed that Centcom's Gen. McKenzie met Sunday with Taliban officials in Doha, but would not provide any other details about a Taliban commitment.
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/International/taliban-palace-ap-rc-210816_1629119176645_hpEmbed_23x16_384.jpg\")
\"He was firm and clear with Taliban leaders that any attack on our people, or our operations at the airport would be met, swiftly with a very forceful response,\" Kirby said.
Late Sunday, the Pentagon approved a State Department request to help house up to 22,000 Afghan interpreters and their families (SIV's) in the U.S., but Kirby acknowledged it will \"take some time to build it out.\"
An emergency session of the United Nations will be held Monday, and leaders around the globe have been issuing responses to the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said in remarks he's \"particularly concerned by accounts of mounting human rights violations against the women and girls of Afghanistan who fear a return to the darkest days.\"
British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace spoke about the race against time to evacuate Brits and Afghans who helped the military when he became overcome with emotion after saying that some people who served the U.K. will not come back.
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/International/kabul-airport-tali_hpMain_20210816-052549_4x3t_384.jpg\")
When asked in an interview with British radio station LBC why he was taking it so personally, he said, \"Because I'm a soldier. It's sad, and the West has done what it's done, and we have to do our very best to get people out and stand by our obligations.\"
FLEEING THE TALIBAN: Crowd of people rushes towards Kabul's international airport as citizens try desperately to flee after Taliban takes control of the Afghan capital. https://t.co/B12EOPCEul pic.twitter.com/JbhxgeyEz9
— ABC News (@ABC) August 16, 2021
Wallace announced Monday that the U.K. is working on plans to allow Afghan asylum seekers to enter Britain without a passport as the situation on the ground deteriorates.
Russia's foreign ministry, meanwhile, said Monday it believes the situation in Afghanistan is \"stabilising\" and that it has established contact with the \"new authorities\" in Kabul.
Russian officials have said the Taliban had promised no Russians would be harmed and that the group's fighters have now taken Russia's embassy under protection in Kabul. Russia has not evacuated its embassy so far, though it has pulled out some staff.
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/International/saigon-02-rt-iwb-210816_1629115726432_hpEmbed_3x2_384.jpg\")
In China, official statements laid the groundwork for Beijing recognizing a Taliban government.
Spokesperson Hua Chunying noted that the Taliban said Sunday that the \"war in Afghanistan is over\" and that they will work to establish an inclusive government and ensure the safety of foreign missions in Afghanistan. Chunying said China expects these statements to be implemented in order to ensure a smooth transition and curb terrorist and criminal acts, so the Afghan people can avoid war and rebuild their country.
China has been wanting to expand their Belt and Road infrastructure initiative into Afghanistan but the U.S.-backed government had been reluctant to commit. China is connected to Afghanistan by a sliver of land called the Wakhan Corridor, which has historically been a well-traveled trade route. It connects to China's Xinjiang region, and if it were opened, it would provide a better route from Kashgar, China, to Peshawar, Pakistan.
ABC News' Julia Macfarlane, Patrick Reevell, Karson Yiu, Cindy Smith, Sarah Kolinovsky and Celia Darrough contributed to this report.
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