As the United States sped up efforts to evacuate Americans from Afghanistan Monday, violence in the country’s capital city left an Afghan soldier dead.
Monday’s shooting came as the Taliban moved to shore up their position and eliminate pockets of armed resistance after the group’s takeover of the country. They retook three districts north of the capital seized by opponents over the weekend. The Taliban have also surrounded the last province that remains out of their control.
Monday’s deadly shooting comes a day after at least seven Afghans died a day earlier in a panicked stampede of thousands of people near the airport in Kabul. It also came the same day the U.S. set a new high for people evacuated out of the Capital. The video above shows Army Maj. Gen. William ‘Hank’ Taylor discussing the evacuation effort.
“As of this morning, within the last 24 hours, 25 U.S. military C-17s, three U.S. military C-130s and then a combination of 61 chartered commercial and other military flights departed Kabul,” Maj. Gen. Taylor said. “The total passenger count for those flights was approximately 16,000 of that number. The U.S. military transported just under 11,000 personnel.”
Taylor also confirmed that five flights arrived at Dulles International Airport with approximately 1300 passengers.
The chief Pentagon spokesman said the faster pace of evacuation was due in part to coordination with Taliban commanders.
“Thus far, and going forward, it does require constant coordination and deconfliction with the Taliban,” John Kirby said. “What we’ve seen is, this deconfliction has worked well in terms of allowing access and flow as well as reducing the overall size of the crowds just outside the airport.”
President Joe Biden has not ruled out extending the evacuation beyond Aug. 31, the date he had set for completing the pullout of U.S. forces. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson plans to press Biden for an extension.
Despite speeding up evacuations, President Biden’s popularity has taken a hit in the wake of the Taliban takeover. According to a CBS News Poll, 74 percent of respondents said the removal of troops from Afghanistan has gone badly. The approval rating for Biden’s handling of the withdrawal has fallen from 60 percent in July to 47 percent, and his overall approval rating has dropped from 58 percent in July to 50 percent.