US President Joe Biden says the US is “on pace” to meet a 31 August deadline for evacuations, despite previous calls from allies for an extension.
“The sooner we finish the better,” he said. Some American troops have already been withdrawn, US media report – although evacuations are not affected.
At least 70,700 people have been airlifted from Kabul, which fell to the Taliban nine days ago.
The militants have opposed any extension to the evacuation deadline.
President Biden said: “The Taliban have been taking steps to help get our people out,” adding that the international community would judge the Taliban by their actions.
“None of us are going to take the Taliban’s word for it,” he added.
Mr Biden said the airlift had to come to an end soon because of an increasing threat from the Islamic State group in Afghanistan.
The longer the US stayed in the country, he said, there was an “acute and growing risk of an attack” by the group.
In other developments:
- The World Bank halted funding for projects in Afghanistan. It cited concerns over how the Taliban’s takeover would impact the country’s development prospects, especially for women
- The World Health Organization warned there were only enough medical supplies in Afghanistan to last a week. It said attempts to deliver medical supplies had been blocked due to restrictions at Kabul airport
- Accommodation website AirBnB promised to provide temporary lodging for 20,000 refugees at no charge to help them resettle across the world
- Russia is to use four planes to evacuate more than 500 people, both its own citizens and citizens of other ex-Soviet states, from Afghanistan.
BBC
