No plans to increase troops at Kabul airport as deadline looms, Pentagon says

Evacuation flights peaked over the past 24 hours, but security fears are growing amid Taliban warning.
Afghan evacuees in German military plane
Evacuees from Kabul sit inside a military aircraft as they arrive at Tashkent Airport on Aug. 22, 2021, in Tashkent, Uzbekistan in this photo provided by the German armed forces. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Germany must urgently evacuate up to 10,000 people from Afghanistan for which it is responsible. - Bundeswehr via Getty Images
Jared Szuba headshot (new)
Jared Szuba
@JM_Szuba

The Pentagon has no plans to request additional troops to secure Kabul airport as evacuations pick up ahead of an expected withdrawal deadline next week, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters Monday.

Some 16,000 people were flown out of Hamid Karzai International Airport over the previous 24 hours, a substantial jump in evacuations after a backlog of more than 10,000 people inside the airport over the weekend forced guards to turn people away.

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