Biden says troops may stay in Kabul longer to help evacuate all Americans

WASHINGTON • President Joe Biden has said the United States is committed to evacuating every American from Afghanistan, even if that might mean extending the military mission beyond his Aug 31 deadline for a total withdrawal.

"If there are American citizens left, we are going to stay to get them all out," he said in an interview on ABC News on Wednesday.

When asked whether that meant the troops might stay beyond the end of the month, Mr Biden replied: "No. Americans should understand that we are going to try to get it done before Aug 31." But he then added: "If we don't, we will determine at the time who is left."

Earlier in the day, the Pentagon's top two leaders said the US government was committed to evacuating Afghans cleared to enter the US, but would not commit to extending the operation beyond the Aug 31 deadline.

Speaking at a Pentagon news conference, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin stopped short of assuring safe passage to the tens of thousands of Afghan allies who have been blocked by the Taleban from reaching the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul.

So far, US Marines and other troops have not been sent into Kabul to extract evacuees. "The forces that we have are focused on security of the airfield," said Mr Austin, who added that the military would work with the Taleban to allow Afghans with the proper paperwork to pass through.

However, there have been numerous reports of Taleban fighters beating and harassing Afghans trying to get there despite the Pentagon's warnings not to interfere with the evacuation.

Mr Austin acknowledged that the US was "not close to where we want to be in terms of getting the numbers through" for evacuations. "So, we are going to work that 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and we are going to get everyone that we can possibly evacuate, evacuated," he said.

Meanwhile, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi is working to organise a summit of the Group of 20 (G-20) major economies on the situation in Afghanistan, according to the La Repubblica and Il Messaggero newspapers yesterday. Italy holds the rotating G-20 presidency this year.

He was expected to discuss the matter with Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday. An online meeting of leaders of the Group of Seven has already been scheduled for next week to discuss a common strategy and approach.

NYTIMES, REUTERS