Evacuation of US troops priority in last two days of Kabul operation: Pentagon

• US would continue to evacuate people from Kabul airport until the August 31 deadline if needed, says the Pentagon.
• There are about 5,400 troops at the airport, which President Joe Biden says are set to go down to zero by the end of the month.
• Pentagon spokesman John Kirby says that a total of 4,400 American nationals have so far been evacuated from Kabul.

WASHINGTON: The Pentagon on Wednesday said that the United States military would continue the process to evacuate people from Kabul airport until the August 31 deadline if needed, but the removal of the US troops and military equipment will be on their priority on the last couple of days.

There are about 5,400 troops at the airport, a number President Joe Biden says is set to go down to zero by the end of the month, depending on cooperation from the Taliban.

Army Major General William Taylor, with the US military Joint Staff, told a news briefing more than 10,000 people were at Kabul airport awaiting evacuation from Afghanistan.

He said that in the previous 24 hours, 90 US military and other international flights had evacuated 19,000 more people, bringing the total evacuation number so far to about 88,000. He said one plane had departed every 39 minutes.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said that a total of 4,400 American nationals had so far been evacuated from Kabul, but that he did not know how many were still there. Over the weekend, the number stood at about 2,500.

"If you're an evacuee that we can get out, we're going to continue to get you out right up until the end [...] But in the last couple of days [...] we will begin to prioritise military capabilities and military resources to move out," Kirby said.

In addition to American citizens, Afghans and people from other countries such as Canada and Germany have been evacuated over the past 11 days.

How many people have so far been evacuated out of Kabul?

Representatives Seth Moulton, a Democrat, and Peter Meijer, a Republican, who served in the Iraq war before running for Congress, said in a statement on Tuesday that they went to Kabul to gather information as part of Congress’ oversight role.

Kirby said the two members of the US House of Representatives, who travelled to Afghanistan on Tuesday, had taken up scarce resources.

"They certainly took time away from what we had been planning to do that day," he added.