American troops can't escort Afghans to Kabul airport: US defense secretary
The Hindu
Lloyd Austin said securing the airport is the paramount mission right now and he doesn't want to do anything to detract from that
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has said that the US military doesn't have the capacity at this point to extend security forces beyond the perimeter of the Kabul airport in order to get more civilians safely evacuated out of Afghanistan. Afghans and aid organisations have said that citizens are having a hard time getting past the Taliban and into the airport, in a mass exodus triggered by the insurgents' rapid takeover of the country and its capital on Sunday. Mr Austin told reporters at a Pentagon press conference on Wednesday that the US is working to get as many people through the evacuation process and out of the country as quickly as possible, but "we're not close to where we want to be".More Related News