“Let me be clear: Any American who wants to come home, we will get you home,” Joe Biden said (File)
US President Joe Biden said Friday he could not guarantee the outcome of emergency evacuations from Kabul, calling it one of the most difficult airlift operations ever, but added he would mobilize “every resource” to repatriate Americans.
“This is one of the largest, most difficult airlifts in history,” Biden said in a televised address from the White House, highlighting the dangerous elements of coordinating a mass evacuation while being surrounded by Taliban forces, who took over the Afghan capital on Sunday.
“I cannot promise what the final outcome will be, or… that it will be without risk of loss,” he said of the chaotic exit from Afghanistan after nearly 20 years of war and rebuilding.
“But as commander in chief, I can assure you that I will mobilize every resource necessary” to conduct a thorough evacuation, Biden added.
“Let me be clear: Any American who wants to come home, we will get you home.”
The president said US forces have airlifted 13,000 people out of Afghanistan since August 14, and 18,000 since July, with thousands more evacuated on private charter flights facilitated by the US government.
Here are the LIVE Updates on Afghanistan-Taliban crisis:
World Bank’s Kabul-Based Staff Evacuated To Pakistan: Report
The World Bank Group’s Kabul-based staff and their immediate families have been safely evacuated to Islamabad, according to an internal staff memo issued on Friday and seen by Reuters.
The World Bank has not commented on the status of its operations and engagement in Afghanistan since the Taliban seized control of Kabul earlier this week.
A report by Radio Pakistan said that foreigners and Afghans attached to the World Bank and other international organizations were among 350 people to arrive in Islamabad from Kabul aboard a special Pakistan International Airlines flight.
Taliban Websites Disappear From Internet, Reason Unclear: Report
The official websites of the Taliban, who swept to power in Afghanistan on the back of a lightning offensive last week, appeared to have vanished from the internet late on Friday.
It was not immediately clear whether a technical fault or something else was to blame.
The Taliban operate separate websites in Pashto, Dari, Arabic, Urdu and English. All five appeared to be unreachable on Friday.
US Deployed Helicopters To Rescue 169 Americans In Kabul Operation
The US military in Afghanistan deployed three helicopters to rescue 169 Americans unable to reach the Kabul airport gates to leave the country, an official said Friday.
In the first evidence that US forces are willing and able to go beyond the US-secured airport to help people seeking evacuation, three Chinook helicopters flew to pick up the group of US citizens at the Baron hotel, not far from the airport, according to Pentagon spokesman John Kirby.
The group had planned to walk to the Abbey Gate of the airport, but a crowd was gathered there and US officials were concerned for the Americans’ safety.
“There was a large crowd established outside the Abbey Gate, a crowd, that, not everybody had confidence in, in terms of their ability to walk through it, and so local commanders on the scene took the initiative and flew these helicopters out there to pick them up,” Kirby said.
Earlier, President Joe Biden mentioned the rescue in a speech, but gave few details.
