Afghans plead for faster US evacuation from Taliban rule

3 years ago 288

WASHINGTON – Educated young women, erstwhile U.S. subject translators and different Afghans astir at-risk from the Taliban appealed to the Biden medication to get them connected evacuation flights arsenic the United States struggled connected Wednesday to bring bid to the continuing chaos astatine the Kabul airport.

President Joe Biden and his apical officials said the U.S. was moving to velocity up the evacuation, but made nary promises however agelong it would past oregon however galore hopeless radical it would alert to information “We don’t person the capableness to spell retired and cod ample numbers of people,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters, adding that evacuations would proceed “until the timepiece runs retired oregon we tally retired of capability.”

Afghans successful information due to the fact that of their enactment with the American military, and Americans scrambling to get them out, besides pleaded with Washington to chopped the reddish portion that they accidental could strand thousands of susceptible Afghans if U.S. forces retreat arsenic planned successful the coming days.

“If we don’t benignant this out, we’ll virtually beryllium condemning radical to death,” said Marina Kielpinski LeGree, the American caput of a nonprofit, Ascend. The organization's young Afghan pistillate colleagues were successful the wide of radical waiting for flights astatine the airdrome successful the aftermath of days of teardrop state and gunshots.

The U.S. has rushed successful troops, transport planes and commanders to unafraid the airport, question Taliban guarantees of harmless passage, and ramp up an airlift susceptible of ferrying betwixt 5,000 and 9,000 radical a day.

Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman described an all-out effort by U.S. officials to get Afghans and allies to safety. “This is an all-hands-on-deck effort and we’re aren’t going to fto up,” Sherman said astatine a State Department quality conference.

Taliban fighters and checkpoints ringed the airdrome — barriers for Afghans who fearfulness that their past enactment with Westerners makes them premier targets of the insurgents. Afghans who made it past the Taliban reached Americans guarding the airdrome complex, and thrust documents astatine immoderate of the 4,500 U.S. troops successful impermanent control.

One of the past windows of flight from Taliban threatens to adjacent erstwhile Biden's planned pullout by Aug. 31 is complete.

“People are going to die,” said Air Force seasoned Sam Lerman. He said helium was moving to assistance a erstwhile Afghan subject contractor who received an email from the State Department telling him to spell to the airport. But U.S. troops astatine the introduction to the airdrome turned backmost the Afghan antheral Wednesday, telling him helium lacked the close document, Lerman said.

Hundreds of Afghans who lacked immoderate papers oregon promises of flights besides congregated astatine the airport, adding to the chaos. It didn't assistance that galore of the Taliban fighters were illiterate, and cannot work the documents.

U.S. officials accidental they person evacuated 4,480 radical since they took power of the airdrome implicit the weekend. The turmoil determination has seen Afghans unreserved the tarmac. In 1 instance, immoderate seemingly fell to their decease portion clinging to a departing American C-17 transport plane.

Hoping to unafraid seats connected an airlift are American citizens and different foreigners, Afghan allies of the Western forces, and women, journalists, activists and others astir astatine hazard from the fundamentalist Taliban.

The U.S. has declined to springiness estimates of however galore U.S. citizens stay successful Afghanistan and are successful request of escape.

About 100,000 Afghans were seeking evacuation done a U.S. visa programme meant to supply refuge to Afghans who had worked with Americans, arsenic good arsenic household members, said Rebecca Heller, caput of the U.S.-based International Refugee Assistance Program. Her enactment was among those pressing the United States to urgently measurement up visa processing.

Heller said an Afghan lawsuit told her of 5 Afghan translators killed by the Taliban successful the past 2 days for their past enactment with Americans.

Heller played an entreaty that she said a pistillate Afghan lawsuit had recorded. The woman, whose sanction The Associated Press is withholding for her safety, has been waiting for 3 years for U.S. enactment connected her visa application.

“The lone anticipation successful this infinitesimal I person is the U.S. government,” the Afghan pistillate said. “Please, U.S. authorities ... delight halt promising. Please, commencement taking action. As instantly arsenic you can."

The Pentagon said elder U.S. subject officers, including Navy Rear Adm. Peter Vasely, are talking to Taliban commanders astir Taliban checkpoints and curfews that person constricted the fig of Americans and Afghans capable to participate the airport.

The U.S. authorities sent emails successful caller days telling immoderate American citizens, greenish paper holders and their families, and others to travel to the airport, and to beryllium prepared to wait.

Biden has defended his determination to extremity the U.S. combat ngo successful Afghanistan that began aft the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and has rejected blasted for the chaos that has ensued. Biden this laid work connected Afghans themselves for the Taliban takeover and for the frantic scrambles to fly the country.

But exile groups enactment yearslong backlog of visa applications.

An cognition to alert to the United States erstwhile Afghan translators and others whose visa processes were closest to completion had managed to bring successful lone astir fractional of the 4,000 Afghans predicted earlier the Taliban takeover.

A abstracted visa programme meant to alert retired civilian nine members astir astatine hazard from the Taliban was handicapped from the start, partially by a U.S. request that Afghans question extracurricular Afghanistan to use — a travel that the Taliban expanse made intolerable for most.

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Knickmeyer reported from Oklahoma City. Associated Press writers Matthew Lee and Robert Burns successful Washington and Kathy Gannon successful Guelph, Canada, and AP Broadcast Correspondent Sagar Meghani successful Washington contributed to this report.

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