US to expand its security presence at Kabul airport to 6,000 troops

The US has said it would deploy 6000 troops at the vital Kabul airport to ensure the safe departure of American citizens and its allies from Afghanistan which has been taken over by the Taliban in a sudden and unprecedented collapse of the elected regime led by embattled President Ashraf GhaniThe Taliban insurgents swept into Afghanistans capital on Sunday after the government collapsed and president Ghani joined fellow citizens and foreigners to leave the countryUS Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a series of calls to his counterparts of US key allies India was not among themSimultaneously more than 60 countries led by the US and the European Union issued a joint statement urging those in positions of power and authority acrossAfghanistan to bear responsibility and accountability for the protection of human life and property and for the immediate restoration of security and civil orderAlso read Air Indias Kabul flight rescheduled two aircraft on standby for emergency evacuationAt present we are completing a series of steps to secure Hamid Karzai International Airport to enable the safe departure of US and allied personnel from Afghanistan via civilian and military flights said a joint statement issued by the US Department of State and the Defense DepartmentOver the next 48 hours we will have expanded our security presence to nearly 6000 troops with a mission focused solely on facilitating these efforts and will be taking over air traffic control it saidThe Kabul international airport which is closed to all commercial flights reportedly is the only exit point for people leaving AfghanistanThe joint statement said that from tomorrow and over the coming days the US will transfer out of the country thousands of American citizens who have been living in Afghanistan as well as locally employed staff of the US mission in Kabul and their families and other vulnerable Afghan nationalsWe will accelerate the evacuation of thousands of Afghans eligible for US Special Immigrant Visas nearly 2000 of whom have already arrived in the United States over the past two weeks For all categories Afghans who have cleared security screening will continue to be transferred directly to the United States And we will find additional locations for those yet to be screened the statement saidState Department Spokesperson Ned Price said that Blinken spoke separately with his counterparts from Australia France Germany and Norway about developments in Afghanistan including the security situationThey also discussed our efforts to bring our citizens to safety and assist vulnerable Afghans he saidPrice also said that the safe evacuation of all American Embassy personnel is now completeWe can confirm that the safe evacuation of all Embassy personnel is now complete All Embassy personnel are located on the premises of Hamid Karzai International Airport whose perimeter is secured by the US Military he saidIn a joint statement more than 60 countries led by the US said that given the deteriorating security situation they support and are working to secure and call on all parties to respect and facilitate the safe and orderly departure of foreign nationals and Afghans who wish to leave the countryThose in positions of power and authority across Afghanistan bear responsibility and accountability for the protection of human life and property and for the immediate restoration of security and civil order the joint statement saidAfghans and international citizens who wish to depart must be allowed to do so roads airports and border crossing must remain open and calm must be maintained The Afghan people deserve to live in safety security and dignity We in the international community stand ready to assist them they saidThe Taliban on Sunday seized the last major city outside of Kabul held by the countrys central government cutting off the Afghan capital to the eastThe collapse of Jalalabad leaves Afghanistans central government in control of just Kabul and six other provincial capitals out of the countrys 34 USUS President Joe Biden in April announced that all American troops would be withdrawn from Afghanistan by September 11 this year thus bringing to end the countrys longest war spanning across two decadesSince the USled invasion that ousted the Taliban after the September 11 2001 attacks America has spent more than USD 1 trillion in fighting and rebuilding in AfghanistanAbout 2400 US soldiers have been killed along with tens of thousands of Afghan troops Taliban insurgents and Afghan civiliansThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever