Afghanistan: US troops unable to help people get to Kabul airport, says Pentagon chief
- Many seeking to flee amid the Taliban takeover are struggling to reach the airport through massive crowds and checkpoints
- Biden says military will stay in country until all Americans are evacuated, and that there had been no way for US to withdraw ‘without chaos ensuing’
“If there’s American citizens left, we’re going to stay until we get them all out,” Biden told ABC News in an interview conducted on a day many US lawmakers pressed him to extend the deadline that he had set for a final pull-out.
Biden has come under fierce criticism for his handling of the withdrawal, which in recent days has been dominated by scenes of chaos in and around the Kabul airport with people desperately trying to get out of the country.
Biden defended his decisions, saying problems were inevitable in ending the 20-year US involvement there. “The idea that somehow, there’s a way to have gotten out without chaos ensuing, I don’t know how that happens,” he said.
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Journalist recounts evacuation from Kabul after Taliban takeover of Afghanistan
He also said the Taliban is cooperating for now in helping get Americans out of the country but “we’re having some more difficulty” in evacuating US-aligned Afghan citizens.