The ongoing evacuation of US citizens and Afghan nationals who supported Americans over the last 20 years is one of the largest and most difficult airlifts in history, US President Joe Biden said here Friday. He said the US has already evacuated more than 18,000 people since July and approximately 13,000 since its military airlift began on August 14.

This is one of the largest, most difficult airlifts in history, and the only country in the world capable of projecting this much power on the far side of the world with this degree of precision is the United States of America," Biden told reporters at a White House news conference. He said thousands more have been evacuated on private charter flights facilitated by the US government including American citizens and permanent residents as well as their families. It also includes Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) applicants and their families, the Afghans who have worked alongside the US, served alongside Americans, "one into combat with us, and provided invaluable assistance to the US such as translators and interpreters", he said.