Pentagon - Page 15

The Pentagon said as of August 14, about 117,000 people have been evacuated from Kabul, including 5,400 Americans.

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby confirmed Friday that “thousands” of Islamic State prisoners were freed after the United States handed over bases to the Afghan government.

President Joe Biden’s Department of Defense does not know how many Afghans flagged on terrorist watch lists have sought refuge in the United States via evacuations out of Afghanistan.

During a press conference, Marine Corps Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie said that the United States “shares a common purpose” with the Taliban terrorists, admitting they are “useful to work with.”

Kirby confirmed Thursday that “a number” of U.S. service members were killed by at least two bomb attacks in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby confirmed Thursday an explosion at the Kabul Hamid Karzai International Airport in Afghanistan resulted in several U.S. and civilian casualties.

The meeting between Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and President Joe Biden was scheduled to begin at 11:30 a.m., but the White House told reporters it would be delayed.

Kirby confirmed an explosion outside the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, where there are U.S. troops manning the perimeter.

Top Republicans announced in a letter to Biden on Wednesday that they plan to investigate his withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Wednesday issued a memorandum directing the military services to begin full vaccination of all service members following FDA approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine on Monday.

Thousands of Americans remain stranded in Afghanistan with the Taliban-enforced withdrawal deadline in five days looming over the Biden and Harris Administration.

Some Afghans at the airport in Kabul, Afghanistan are using American passports that do not belong to them in an attempt to be approved for resettlement in the United States, NBC News reports. 

As more chaos unfolds in Afghanistan, President Joe Biden delayed speaking in front of a camera to the American people on the situation there, where thousands of Americans are being stranded. Other agencies canceled their briefings as well.

Assessments from inside and outside the Biden administration repudiate the White House claims that al-Qaeda “is gone” and no longer a threat.

The U.S. military is continuing to draw down its forces from Afghanistan ahead of the August 31 deadline, according to defense officials.

President Joe Biden’s administration has already started increasing the number of Afghans that will be resettled across the United States before American citizens have been evacuated from Afghanistan. 

Afghans evacuated from Afghanistan are being tested for the Chinese coronavirus after they arrive in the United States, Pentagon officials said on Monday. 

An aide to Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) tweeted Monday that an American woman was stranded in Kabul, beaten by the Taliban, and unable to get out.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters Monday that an unknown amount of Afghan government weaponry is in the hands of the Taliban following the terror group’s takeover of Afghanistan.

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby on Monday refused to give the specific number of Americans evacuated from Afghanistan.

Jay Collins, who was wounded multiple times in combat in Afghanistan, called the disastrous nature of Biden’s withdrawal “heartbreaking.”

A Central Command spokesman assured the military was taking “all necessary actions” to secure Americans’ safe movement to the airport.

President Joe Biden could activate the Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF). United States airline companies have been put on alert since Friday that the CRAF is a possibility, according to multiple reports.

The Pentagon contradicted President Joe Biden multiple times Friday, immediately after he delivered remarks on the bungled withdrawal from Afghanistan this week.

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Breitbart News exclusively on Friday that President Joe Biden’s “tragic” failure in his withdrawal from Afghanistan “didn’t have to be this way.”

Former Trump officials watching the disaster unfolding in Afghanistan say that the incoming Biden administration rejected their plans.

Multiple reports surfacing on Friday claim Taliban forces are reportedly assaulting Western citizens, including Americans, as they attempt to reach the Kabul airport for evacuation, in addition to violently preventing Afghans with appropriate travel papers from escaping.

President Joe Biden’s State Department is charging Americans stranded in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan to be evacuated from Kabul’s chief airport, according to a report. 

State Department Spokesman Ned Price could not answer Thursday how many Americans are stranded in Afghanistan.

President Joe Biden’s inaction is “allowing the Taliban to attack Americans in Afghanistan,” Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) said Wednesday. Her remarks coincide with the president’s contentious interview with George Stephanopoulos, in which he struggled to adequately address the ongoing crisis in Afghanistan.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Thursday that the number of American citizens trapped in Afghanistan remains unknown.

Austin appeared stumped after being asked if the U.S. is relying on “diplomacy with the Taliban” to allow people safe passage to the Kabul airport.

Pentagon leaders said the military does not have the capability to help the thousands of Americans stranded outside the Kabul airport.

The Pentagon said Wednesday morning that between Tuesday 3 a.m. and Wednesday 3 a.m., the military evacuated about 2,000 from the Kabul airport, including 325 Americans.

The Defense Department has confirmed that Afghans evacuated from Afghanistan, and applying for visas to the United States, will be sent to U.S. military bases in Texas, Wisconsin, and Virginia.

The U.S. sent a notice to Americans trying to escape Afghanistan to go to the Kabul airport, but it could not guarantee their security there.