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This is a last minute update. A previous version of this report is below.
U.S. officials on Wednesday promised that the military airlift of Americans and others from Kabul would continue until the last hours before the deadline set by President Joe Biden on Tuesday night. But refugee groups have described a disorganized and barely available American evacuation effort for Afghan allies, which leaves the most desperate to risk beatings and death at Taliban checkpoints.
Some Afghans have reportedly been turned away from Kabul airport by US forces controlling the gates, despite having permission to fly.
“It is 100% for the Afghans to take these risks and try to cope,” said Sunil Varghese, policy director of the International Refugee Assistance Project. “Those with young children and pregnant women are ready to take these punches to get out.”
His group is one of many working with the US government and communicating with clients and colleagues on the ground to move Afghans most at risk away from the Taliban. These include Afghans who previously worked with Americans, as well as journalists, women’s rights activists and others.
The US military has just a few days left to begin closing its anchor role in a massive operation that the White House says evacuated 82,300 Afghans, Americans and other foreigners on a mix of US, international and private. The withdrawal is part of a 2020 agreement negotiated by President Donald Trump with the Taliban.
Taliban leaders who took control of Afghanistan this month have said they will not tolerate any extension of Tuesday’s deadline. But Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen tweeted that “people with legal documents” will still be able to fly via commercial flights after Tuesday.
Biden has called the exit of American citizens as a priority, and the United States has sent more than 4,400, Pentagon chief spokesman John Kirby said Wednesday. The number was an increase of about 400 from the previous day.
There are still many Americans to evacuate, although the Biden administration has refused to publicly estimate a total. US-based organizations, speaking on the merits to discuss sensitive issues, cite testimonies on the ground that some US citizens and family members of Afghans with green cards are still struggling to find their way. clearing a way to Kabul airport for flights. .
Kirby said the U.S. military will preserve airlift capacity at the airport as much as possible in the coming days, ahead of Tuesday’s deadline. The army “will continue to evacuate the necessary populations until the end”, he declared. He added that over the past few days and hours there will have to be a balance in the evacuation of evacuees as well as US troops and their equipment.
Major General Hank Taylor, deputy director of regional operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said U.S. forces conducted another helicopter mission beyond the airport perimeter to retrieve those seeking to clear out.
He said the operation took place in Kabul overnight and people were now safe at the airport awaiting an evacuation flight.
Taylor provided no further details, but Germany’s top military commander General Eberhard Zorn separately said 21 German citizens were pulled by the US helicopter. He said the helicopter crew were American and German troops had picked up the evacuees.
WATCH: Biden says 11,000 people flew from Afghanistan over the weekend
During press conferences and White House remarks during the airlift, Biden offered varying degrees of commitment to have former Afghan translators and others most at risk from the Taliban included in the airlift.
U.S. military and diplomatic officials still appear to be compiling a list of eligible Afghans, but have yet to reveal how – and how many – they might get out, private Americans and U.S. organizations have said.
“We still have 1,200 Afghans with visas who are outside the airport and have not entered,” said James Miervaldis with No One Left Behind, one of dozens of veterans groups working to take out the Afghans who worked with the US military for almost 20 years of fighting there. “We are awaiting news from the US government and we have no news yet.”
VIDEO: Marines pull baby over barbed wire wall at Kabul airport amid chaotic evacuations
Marina LeGree of Ascend, a US-based non-profit organization that has worked to develop fitness and leadership in Afghan girls and young women, described receiving calls from US officials telling interns and group personnel to go to the airport for evacuation flights, only to be turned away. by US forces keeping the doors closed against the crowds outside.
An Afghan intern who traveled to the airport with her family saw one person killed in front of her, and a colleague was burned by a caustic agent shot at the crowd, LeGree said.
“It’s heartbreaking to see my government fail so badly,” said LeGree, the group’s US director, who is in Italy but in close contact with those in Kabul.
The number of US troops at the airport has declined from around 400 to 5,400, but the final withdrawal has not started, Kirby said Wednesday.
He said Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin would consult directly with General Frank McKenzie, head of central command and supervisor of the evacuation operation, before McKenzie made the final withdrawal.
Biden said on Tuesday that while he meets his self-imposed deadline next Tuesday to end the evacuation, he has asked Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken to provide him with contingency plans in case the schedule needs to be adjusted.
Copyright © 2021 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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