President Joe Biden asks his defense chiefs “every single day” whether they need more troops or other resources to ensure safe evacuations of Americans, Afghan citizens, and citizens of other countries from the Kabul airport, his national security chief said on Sunday.
Jake Sullivan told NBC’s Chuck Todd on Meet the Press that “so far” Mr Biden’s top generals have not indicated a need for more forces beyond the 6,000 deployed to assist with evacuations and securing the perimeter at Hamid Karzai International Airport, but left open the possibility that such an assessment could change.
“At the moment, we believe we have sufficient forces on the ground. But every single day, the president asks his military commanders, including those at the airport and those at the Pentagon, whether they need additional resources, additional troops. So far, the answer has been ‘no’. But he will ask again today,” said Mr Sullivan.
The Biden administration has rushed to get thousands of evacuees out of the airport following the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul and the fall of the Afghan government last week. US officials including Mr Sullivan have stressed that the Taliban has agreed thus far to allow evacuations to continue safely, while noting that the possibility of attacks from Isis-aligned forces remains.
More to follow…
Source: Independent
