President Biden said Sunday that his administration could extend the August 31 deadline for withdrawing troops from Afghanistan as the Pentagon enlisted the help of U.S. airlines to evacuate North Africa. Americans and Afghan partners in the country.
“There are discussions between us and the military about extending” the deadline, Biden told White House reporters. “Our hope is that we will not have to prolong ourselves. But there will be discussions that I hope about how far we are in the process. “
The president spoke as U.S. airlines positioned the planes to comply with a Pentagon order, announced Sunday morning under a rarely invoked law, that required six airlines to contribute 18 planes to aid evacuation. Officials said the commercial plane would not fly in and out of Kabul, the Afghan capital, but would transport evacuees to the United States from bases in Germany, Qatar and Bahrain to facilitate the necks of transport bottle.
The first flights they had evacuated were expected on Monday.
The escalation of activity came as thousands of people tried to break into Kabul airport in an effort to flee, for fear of retaliation from the Taliban, who seized the capital a week ago. Biden and U.S. officials also warned that Islamic State terrorists posed a threat to Americans in Afghanistan and that U.S. officials were working to stop possible attacks and defend the airport.