WASHINGTON, August 16. /TASS/. The US armed forces are ready to respond to any attack on the country’s citizens currently in Afghanistan, Department of Defense Press Secretary John Kirby told TASS on Sunday.
In his words, Washington deployed additional troops to the country with the only mission - "to safeguard the movement of civilians out of Kabul."
"Any threat posed to the mission will be taken seriously—and any attack on our people or on our operation will be met forcefully," he said.
By now, the United States has already evacuated several hundred US citizens, including diplomats and civilians.
"Several hundred civilians including personnel and private U.S. citizens have been evacuated so far," he said. "We continue to build capacity to expedite processing for at-risk Afghan civilians."
"We continue to monitor the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan. We remain focused on the mission assigned to us: to facilitate the safe drawdown of civilian personnel from the U.S. Embassy and out of the country and to protect operations at the airport to support this drawdown and other evacuation flights," the spokesperson said.
The press secretary said Hamid Karzai International Airport was receiving commercial flights, although problems were reported throughout the day.
"U.S. Forces have now assumed responsibilities for air traffic control at the airport, supported by Afghan counterparts. Commercial traffic continues, though it has experienced some sporadic stoppages and delay," he said.
"We are continuing to refine our processes and organization at the airport, including pre-staging people for movement, while improving our defenses," Kirby added.
The US embassy in Kabul reported on Sunday that the airport of Kabul was being shelled. No official information about the situation there has been available since then. According to photos and videos shared via social networks, thousands of people arrived to the airport in an attempt to flee the country. Some of them walked onto the runway, blocking it. US servicemen are trying to ensure safe takeoff and landing of aircraft.
On April 14, US President Joe Biden declared his decision to curtail the operation in Afghanistan, which has turned out to be the longest foreign military campaign in the US history. Militants of the radical Taliban movement (outlawed in Russia) entered Afghanistan’s capital Kabul on Sunday, meeting no resistance, and started to take control of governmental offices and police stations, abandoned by pro-government forces. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has left the country, and, according to latest reports, arrived to Uzbekistan’s capital Tashkent. Later, the Taliban announced it had gained control over all districts of the Afghan capital.