US President Joe Biden on Friday promised Americans in Afghanistan that “we will get you home,” but warned the evacuation mission would be risky and dangerous, Reuters reported.
“There’ll be plenty of time to criticize and second guess when this operation is over,” Biden said in a speech and answering questions from reporters at the White House, adding that “the buck stops with me.”
Biden called the airlift one of the largest, most difficult of its kind, and said an attack in Kabul is one concern following the Islamist group’s release from prisons of fellow militants.
The United States is “keeping a close watch on any potential terrorist threat at or around the airport,” Biden said.
“I cannot promise what the final outcome will be or that it will be without risk of loss. But as commander in chief, I can assure you that I will mobilize every resource necessary,” he said.
The United States is desperately trying to evacuate thousands by an Aug. 31 deadline, although Biden said this week that US troops at Kabul airport providing security for the evacuation could stay longer if necessary.
About 13,000 people have been evacuated on US military aircraft since Aug. 14 and 18,000 people since the end of July, he said; 5,700 were evacuated on Thursday alone.
Six days after the takeover of Afghanistan’s capital by the Taliban, thousands of Afghans continued to crowd around Hamid Karzai International Airport in an attempt to leave the country.
People who tried and failed to board a plane have called on fellow Afghans to not pay heed the rumors and to stay at home and not risk their lives.
“For the past week certain people have been informed by phone and through messages to come to the gates of the airport with their families for evacuation, but here we see lots of other people without documents, they are creating an obstacle for others,” said Mubarez, a resident of Panjshir.
“People come here with their ID cards and think that they will be transferred–please avoid the mess here,” said Elham, a resident of Kabul.
Some at the airport have come from distant provinces.
“It is now the fourth day that people with legal documents are not able to leave,” said a resident in Kabul named Mumtaz.
“I don’t see any future for myself now that the Taliban have come, so I decided to leave Afghanistan,” said Ali, a resident in Kabul.
