Evacuation of Americans from Afghanistan ‘top priority’, says Harris – Live | US News

The United States has now helped evacuate more than 95,000 people from Afghanistan since Aug. 14, the White House said in its latest update on the Kabul mission.

A White House official told reporters that about 13,400 people were evacuated from Afghanistan between yesterday at 3 a.m. ET and today at 3 a.m. ET.

“17 US military flights (14 C-17s and 3 C-130s) evacuated approximately 5,100 people from Kabul. In addition, 74 coalition planes evacuated around 8,300 people, ”the official said.

“Since August 14, the United States has evacuated and facilitated the evacuation of approximately 95,700 people. Since the end of July, we have relocated around 101,300 people.

Secretary of State Antoine Blink said yesterday that there were as many as 1,500 Americans left in Afghanistan, and the US Army is still looking to complete his mission by August 31st.

Helen Sullivan of The Guardian and the agencies report:

The United States warned crowds trying to access Kabul airport to leave the area, while Britain, Australia and New Zealand cited the “strong threat” of an attack terrorist.

The four countries have called for people to stop trying to get to the airport, a distressing call as people have virtually no other way to escape. Afghanistan try to save their life and that of their loved ones.

A wave of almost identical travel warnings from London, Wellington, Canberra and Washington on Wednesday urged those gathered in the area to evacuate and move to a safe location.

Airport security warnings were specific. “Those at Abbey Gate, East Gate or North Gate should now leave immediately,” the US State Department said in a warning to its citizens, citing Unspecified “security threats”. He advised people to only approach if “you are receiving individual instructions from a US government official to do so.”

The UK Foreign Office on Wednesday evening urged people not to go to the airport, saying: “There is a continuing and high threat of terrorist attack. Do not go to Kabul Hamid Karzai International Airport. If you are in the airport area, move away to a safe place and wait for further advice.

Greetings from Washington, live blog readers.

Kamala harris completed her nearly week-long trip to Singapore and Vietnam earlier today, and the vice president held a press conference before starting her return trip to the United States.

Asked if the Biden administration can keep Americans safe while AfghanistanHarris replied, “Our top priority right now is to evacuate American citizens, to evacuate the Afghans who have worked with us and the Afghans who are at risk, with a priority for women and children.”

Harris noted the US Army has made “significant progress” in removing US citizens and Afghan allies from Kabul.

According to the latest White House update, the United States has helped evacuate more than 95,000 people since August 14.

The vice president also expressed particular concern for Afghan women and girls, amid intense concerns that the Taliban will cancel some of the rights they have acquired over the past 20 years.

“I have worked most of my career on a number of issues, but with a particular emphasis on the protection of women and children,” said Harris.

“And there is no doubt that all of us paying attention are concerned about this problem in Afghanistan.”

But many questions remain as to how the United States and its allies can exercise control over Afghanistan, when they plan to withdraw their troops completely from the country by next week.

The blog will have more to come, so stay tuned.