US sends additional troops to ensure safe evacuation of diplomatic presence from Kabul
Aug 15, 2021
Washington [US] August 15 : US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday informed that the President has sent additional forces to ensure an orderly and safe evacuation of the US diplomatic presence in Kabul.
The US has planned to relocate personnel from the embassy compound in Kabul to a location at the airport to ensure that they can operate safely and securely, Blinken said in an interview with ABC News.
"President sent in a number of forces to make sure that, as we continue to draw down our diplomatic presence, we do it in a safe and orderly fashion and at the same time maintain a core diplomatic presence in Kabul," he added.
Meanwhile, Blinken also said that the US went to Afghanistan 20 years ago with one mission in mind, and that was to deal with the people who attacked us on 9/11.
"And that mission has been successful. We brought bin Laden to justice a decade ago; al-Qaida, the group that attacked us, has been vastly diminished. Its capacity to attack us again from Afghanistan has been - right now does not exist, and we're going to make sure that we keep in place in the region the capacity, the forces necessary to see any re-emergence of a terrorist threat and to be able to deal with it," he said.
Blinken also informed that after 20 years of war, the US has spent over USD 1 trillion while 2,300 people have lost their lives.
Blinken's remarks came soon after Ghani left Afghanistan following the Taliban advance into the capital city, Sputnik reported.
According to Tolo News, the Chairman of the Afghanistan Supreme National Reconciliation Council, Abdullah Abdullah in a video message posted on Twitter, addressed Ghani as the "former President" of Afghanistan.
Abdullah also called on Afghans to remain calm and said, "hope this 'hard day and night' will pass soon and people will see peaceful days."
