No rescue flights have taken off from Kabul airport in at least 8 hours, 2 US officials tell NBCNews. Qatar, where the first evacuees were taken, does not have the capacity to take any more, sources say.
The U.S. has been working with its NATO allies to find other locations in Europe as well as Asia that have the capability to take in and start processing the evacuees, the sources said.
President Joe Biden, under fire for failing to anticipate the quick Taliban takeover of Afghanistan after the U.S. began pulling its troops out of the country, was expected to provide more details later Friday about what steps his administration is taking to restore order to the increasingly chaotic evacuation.
With the Taliban patrolling the perimeter of the airport and trying to stymie the exodus by blocking access roads and forcing escapees to present their papers at checkpoints, NATO called on Afghanistan’s new leaders to “respect and facilitate their safe and orderly departure, including through Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul.”
“Our immediate task is now to meet our commitments to continue the safe evacuation of our citizens, partner country nationals, and at-risk Afghans, in particular those who have assisted our efforts,” NATO said in a communique. But a former U.S. Army interpreter, whom NBC News is not identifying, said he hasn’t even tried to get to the airport with his wife and children because even venturing out in his neighborhood has gotten increasingly dangerous.Courtney Kube is a correspondent covering national security and the military for the NBC News Investigative Unit.
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