US General: Taliban ‘not interfering with US operations’ at Kabul airport
There had been no hostile interactions with the Taliban over citizens trying to leave Afghanistan, US General Mark A. Milley told a Pentagon news conference.
Around 5,000 people have been evacuated from Afghanistan, according to chairman of the joint chiefs of staff General Milley.
“Through the State Department, the Taliban are guaranteeing safe passage to the airport for American citizens, that is, US passport holders.
“The Taliban are in and around the Kabul airport, but are not interfering with our operations,” Milley said.
The US military’s “priority number one” was successfully evacuating all American citizens who wish to leave Afghanistan, the General said.
Defense secretary Lloyd Austin said the US had responded to reports of people getting turned away at checkpoints by trying to “reinforce to the Taliban if they have credentials they need to be allowed through – that’s working better than it was”.
Austin said the US would continue to deconflict issues with the Taliban and would focus on securing the airfield.
“We cannot afford to either not defend that airfield or not have an airfield that is secure where we have hundreds or thousands of civilians that can access the airfield at will and put our forces at risk,” he said.
The military officials’ comments conflicted with the State Department’s, which said Taliban militants were blocking Afghans attempting to flee from reaching the Hamid Karzai international airport.
The Taliban had not kept to its public statements and commitments to the US, deputy secretary of state Wendy Sherman told reporters on Wednesday.
“Our military partners on the ground in Kabul are engaging directly with the Taliban to make clear that we expect them to allow all American citizens all third country nationals and all Afghans who wish to leave to do so safely and without harassment,” Sherman said.