The Secretary of Defense said that about 4,500 troops were stationed in Kabul, adding that there had been no violent clashes with the Taliban.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced on Wednesday evening, Washington time, that the US military’s lines of communication with the Taliban are open to evacuate all Americans and Afghan allies.
“We are committed to helping Afghans who worked with Washington during the US presence in Afghanistan,” he said, noting that there are currently about 4,500 US troops in Kabul.
According to Reuters, Lloyd Austin added: “All our efforts are to get anyone out of Afghanistan as soon as possible and without war and conflict.”
“We are not even close to what we are considering in terms of evacuating US forces and our Afghan allies and allies from Kabul airport, but the US military’s goal is to increase its evacuation capacity from Afghanistan every day,” he said.
