In a press conference Wednesday Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the U.S. is not capable of evacuating a large number of people from Afghanistan.
During the conference Austin explained that they are pushing military assistance down to the entry points to get as many people through as possible.
He also said that the U.S. is nowhere near where they wanted to be in terms of evacuations.
And, quite frankly, it’s obvious we’re not close to where we want to be in terms of getting the numbers through.
Lloyd austin
Austin stated that they will try to evacuate everyone they can “until the clock runs out or we run out of capability”.
Austin was joined by Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley, who added “we intend to evacuate those who have been supporting us for years, and we are not going to leave them behind. And we will get as many out as possible.”.
“We remain laser-focused right now on Hamid Karzai International Airport”, Austin explained, noting that 4,500 troops are in Kabul helping with the evacuation efforts.
Thousands are still stuck at the airport or blocked by Taliban checkpoints on the way there. Austin did not say whether American troops will be sent outside of the airport to gather American citizens who are being blocked.
