After Pause in Flights Out of Kabul, Evacuations are Continuing, General Says > U.S. Department of Defense > Defense Department News

Pentagon officials provided a status update on the evacuation of Americans and eligible Afghans from Kabul.

John F. Kirby, Pentagon press secretary, and Army Maj. Gen. William “Hank” Taylor, Joint Staff deputy director for regional operations, held a press briefing this afternoon.

“Our throughput has increased and we continue to observe a steady progress in Kabul,” Taylor said, referring to the flights out of the Hamid Karzai International Airport.

There was a pause of flights leaving Kabul earlier today, he said. The pause was because of a temporary resource and personnel capacity issue at one of our stopover locations. 

Qatar is one of the primary stopover locations.

Flight operations have resumed, the general said, adding that flights will also land in Germany today.

Aircraft availability is not an issue, he said. “We intend to maximize each plane’s capacity. We’re prioritizing the evacuation of people above all else, and we’re focused on doing this as safely as possible and with a great sense of urgency.”

The U.S. military presence in Kabul is now approximately 5,800 troops, with the mission to defend the Kabul airport and to evacuate Americans and eligible Afghans as quickly and as safely as possible.

“The airport remains secure and evacuation flights are steadily increasing,” Taylor added.

The general noted that as of 3 a.m. EDT today, 16 C-17 aircraft and one C-130 aircraft departed Kabul within a 24-hour period, with a total of 6,000 passengers, including a couple of hundred American citizens.

Kirby said that while Qatar remains the prime way station for evacuees, the U.S. is working out details with other nations to allow flights to land.

The primary arrival locations in the U.S. for the evacuees are Forts Lee, McCoy and Bliss. Kirby said that those installations are working to build the capacity to host about 22,000 total Afghans in the coming days and weeks and that there’s a possibility that other installations might be receiving them as well.