Biden sends in more US troops, to ensure swift evacuation from Afghanistan
Aug 16, 2021
Kabul [Afghanistan], August 16 : US President Joe Biden on Monday authorised a third combat team from the 82nd Airborne from Kuwait to head to Kabul to bring the total eventual US footprint to 7,000 troops in Afghanistan.
"We anticipate that in the coming hours we'll be able to restore air operations at the airport," said Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby to reporters adding that it will allow additional US troops to flow in.
Turkish forces, other allied forces are assisting US troops at the Kabul airport, he added.
In the wake of the Taliban entering Kabul on Sunday, earlier the US Department of Defense announced that it sent more than three battalions - two Marine, one Army -- currently in the US Central Command area of responsibility within two days to Afghanistan.
Pentagon also said it cannot confirm the validity of a video showing people falling off a US C-17 transport plane.
Earlier today, a shocking video in which desperate Afghans who had clung on to the underbelly of a C-17 Globemaster falling down from the plane, surfaced on Internet and was circulated widely.
Meanwhile, United States troops shot two armed men at Kabul airport as the mass evacuation from Afghanistan continues.
Press Secretary confirmed two separate incidents of US troops responding to "hostile threats."
"It's out understanding that these [US] troops acted on what was perceived to be a real & tangible threat," Kirby said.