WASHINGTON The United States and the Taliban are working together to evacuate tens to thousands of people from Kabul's airport ahead of President Joe Biden’s August 31 deadline for withdrawing U.S troops. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan stated Monday.
Sullivan stated that he was in contact with the Taliban and is consulting with them on all aspects of what's going on in Kabul. "On what's going on at the airport and how we can ensure that American citizens, SIVs, and third-country nationals have facilitated access to the airport. We'll keep those conversations going."
Sullivan claimed that coordination took place on a daily basis through "political and security channels," but he declined to give more details.
Tens of thousands Americans, NATO nationals and Afghans who have aided NATO are desperate to flee the country via the only airport that is not controlled by Taliban.
Sullivan defended Biden's administration against critics who claim that the chaotic and sometimes tragic scenes at Kabul Airport over the past week could be avoided with better planning.
Sullivan stated that any U.S. withdrawal would be marred by chaos.
He said, "Whether Kabul fell on August or September or December or the next August, it is a fact that there were going to have to be American citizens who needed to evacuate Kabul."
"We believe that we have the time between now and 31st to get any American out of Afghanistan," said Mr.
