America’s 20-year war in Afghanistan entered its final hours Monday with the last Americans seeking to be evacuated and the U.S. military preparing to end its airlift and depart the Taliban-controlled capital.
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White House press secretary Jen Psaki said “a small number” of Americans were believed to still want to get out of the country.
She did not offer an exact number but said about 6,000 had been evacuated by various means so far. She said some of the remaining Americans had not fully decided whether to leave.
The focus of the U.S. evacuation was increasingly on getting the last Americans out. Senior administration officials said Sunday that the United States has the capacity to evacuate the approximately 300 U.S. citizens remaining in Afghanistan who want to leave before President Joe Biden’s Tuesday deadline.
Asked what will happen to the Afghans who are trying to leave but unable to make the evacuation flights, Psaki said there was “ongoing, immediate, urgent conversations happening at a very high level with international partners now.”
“We are working through a range of mechanisms so that there can be an ongoing efforts to move people out who who are looking to depart Afghanistan,” she said.
The White House said Monday morning that about 1,200 people were evacuated from Kabul over the prior 24 hours aboard 26 U.S. military flights and two allied flights.
