The Taliban referred to the August 31 withdrawal deadline as the “red line,” and the United States evacuated 48,000 people from Afghanistan

WASHINGTON-The White House said on Monday that since August 14th, the United States has evacuated or helped about 48,000 people to evacuate Afghanistan, of which about 10,900 were airlifted out within 12 hours on Monday.

This figure shows that during the Taliban’s takeover, the military’s tremendous effort to relocate as many people as possible has accelerated significantly. In addition, coalition forces evacuated approximately 5,900 people over the weekend.

The White House stated that since the end of July, the United States has relocated about 53,000 people. According to the State Department, it is believed that there are still thousands of Americans waiting to be evacuated.

The Pentagon said the evacuees were flying from Kabul to temporary safe havens in the Middle East and Europe, including US facilities in Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Italy, Spain and Germany.

Afghan nationals arriving in the United States will be placed in Fort McCoy, Wisconsin, Fort Lee, Virginia, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, and Fort Bliss, Texas .

General Steve Lyons, commander of the US Transportation Command and Army General, told reporters on Monday that nearly 200 aircraft were used in certain capacities for evacuation.

“So, when I say we are going all out. I mean it,” Lyon said, adding that he believes the U.S. military can speed up the current evacuation rate.

The latest news of the evacuation comes as the United States and NATO forces are eager to airlift thousands of people out of the country before the self-set deadline to leave Afghanistan in eight days.

President Joe Biden Said before He may consider extending the departure date beyond August 31, but has not yet done so.

Taliban spokesperson Tell sky news The team will not accept such an extension.

“This is a red line. President Biden announced on August 31 that they will withdraw all troops. Therefore, if they extend it, it means they are expanding their occupation and there is no need,” Suhail Shahin said, according to the report. .

“If the United States or the United Kingdom seek more time to continue to evacuate, the answer is no. Otherwise, there will be consequences,” he added.

When asked about the Taliban’s warning, National Security Adviser Jack Sullivan told reporters that Biden is assessing the situation “day in and day out” and added that “the president will make his own decision regarding possible extensions”.

The US State Department reiterated that if the Taliban fails to fulfill its commitment to provide safe passage for evacuees to the airport, the United States will hold the Taliban accountable.

“The Taliban have agreed to provide safe passage for Americans, third-country nationals and Afghans who want to leave, spokesperson Ned Price told reporters at the State Department. If they do not, we will hold them accountable together,” He added. .

Sullivan downplayed criticisms about the failure of the United States to withdraw troops from Afghanistan because of the rush of military evacuation and the panic at the airport scene.

“What I have seen is that the United States is taking the risk of thousands of US troops to ensure airport security. This is not only to facilitate the evacuation of Americans, but also to facilitate the evacuation of third-country nationals from friends and enemies, and to facilitate the evacuation of thousands. Thousands of people want to leave Afghanistan for humanitarian reasons,” Sullivan said.

“This is a huge logistical, diplomatic, security and humanitarian cause. No other country in the world can do this, no one can do it,” he added.

At the Pentagon, Department of Defense spokesman John Kirby said, “The focus is to complete this work by the end of this month.”

“We are well aware that the Taliban expressed their hope to complete this task before August 31. I will tell you that we still plan to complete it before August 31. This is the commander-in-chief of the task signed by the Taliban and assigned to us. This is what we are trying to implement,” Kirby added.

Earlier Monday, the U.S. military confirmed A brief exchange of fire broke out At a gate entering Kabul Hamid Karzai International Airport.

U.S. Central Command (the combatant command responsible for overseeing U.S. military operations in the region), Navy Captain William Urban, said that the incident “seems to have started when an unknown hostile actor opened fire on Afghan security forces. “.

He added that no US or NATO coalition forces were injured.