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President Joe Biden approved an extra 1,000 US troops for deployment to Afghanistan on Saturday, bringing the total number of US troops in Afghanistan to around 5,000, in order to ensure an orderly and safe drawdown of American and coalition forces, according to Biden.
Afghans who collaborated with the military during the nearly two-decade war will also be evacuated by US troops. The decision to re-insert thousands of US troops into Afghanistan at the last minute mirrored the country’s terrible security situation, as the Taliban gained control of multiple Afghan cities in a matter of days.
The requirement for more forces also cast doubt on Biden’s ability to fulfil his August 31 goal for entirely removing combat forces. Biden did not provide a breakdown of the 5,000 troops he stated had been deployed in a statement released on Saturday. However, a defence official told the press that the president had agreed to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s proposal that the 82nd Airborne Brigade Combat Team’s lead battalion assist with the State Department’s pullback.
Initially, 1,000 troops were stationed to assist with the evacuation, but officials immediately determined that this number was insufficient. As Taliban terrorists approached the outskirts of Kabul, an extra group of Marines arrived as part of a 3,000-strong force tasked with securing an airlift of US Embassy workers and Afghan allies.
The 1,000 extra troops authorised on Saturday looked to increase the overall number of troops to 5,000. According to Navy Capt. William Urban, a spokesperson for US Central Command, more Marines arrived at the Kabul international airport on Saturday after an advance force arrived on Friday. Urban refuses to disclose exact figures, citing operational security concerns.
The Pentagon announced on Friday that the majority of the 3,000 troops – two Marine battalions and one Army regiment – will arrive by the end of the weekend. Officials have stated that the freshly arrived forces’ goal is to assist with the airlift of embassy workers and Afghan friends, which they plan to finish by the end of the month.
If the embassy is threatened by a Taliban takeover of Kabul by that time, they may have to stay longer. As the situation in Afghanistan deteriorated, Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris conducted a secure video chat with national security officials on Saturday morning at Camp David, where they were spending the weekend.
According to the White House, they discussed attempts to reduce the number of US civilians in Afghanistan, as well as efforts to evacuate Afghans who worked with the US government and the fast-changing situation on the ground. The Taliban took Mazar-e-Sharif, a huge, well fortified city in northern Afghanistan, on Saturday and closed in on Kabul by capturing Logar province to the south.
In recent days, the Taliban have made significant gains, capturing the country’s second and third largest cities, Herat and Kandahar, respectively.
According to Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby, the Taliban’s swift and efficient capture of major provincial capitals this week looks to indicate that they are attempting to isolate Kabul.
The decision to send 3,000 additional troops to the airport on Thursday, however, adds a new wrinkle to the US evacuation. There are no plans to reenter the conflict, but the number of troops required for security will be determined by the choice to keep the embassy open and the intensity of the Taliban threat to the city in the coming days.
Given Biden’s insistence on finishing the 20-year US war by that date, having the August 31 deadline pass with thousands of US soldiers in the country would be difficult. Republicans have already blasted the withdrawal as a blunder and ill-advised, though neither party has much inclination to send more troops to battle the Taliban.
Kirby declined to comment on whether the Taliban are likely to converge on Kabul in the near future on Friday, but the urgent deployment of additional US troops to Afghanistan to assist with the embassy drawdown is clear evidence of Washington’s concern that Kabul is in jeopardy following the rapid fall of major cities this week with little Afghan government resistance.
President Ashraf Ghani made his first public appearance since the Taliban’s recent successes in a televised speech on Saturday, vowing not to give up the ôachievementsö of the 20 years since the US defeated the Taliban following the 9/11 attacks.
According to the Biden administration, Afghan security forces have concrete advantages over insurgents, including a functioning air force and superior numbers. The statement emphasises the reality that Afghan forces are lacking in motivation to fight in a situation where the Taliban appear to have a clear advantage.
The embassy in Kabul will remain partially staffed and operational, according to the State Department, but the decision to evacuate a large number of embassy staff and bring in thousands of additional US troops on Thursday reflects waning confidence in the Afghan government’s ability to fend off the Taliban surge.
The Biden administration hasn’t ruled out a full embassy evacuation or moving embassy operations to Kabul International Airport.
The embassy still had a little more than 4,000 workers; the State Department has not stated how many will be removed in the following two weeks.
The US would respond if the Taliban assaulted Americans during the increased deployments and evacuations, according to the Biden administration.
