U.S. and coalition flights evacuated 1,200 people from Afghanistan in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of those who have been moved to safety to 116,700 since August 14, a White House official said on Monday.
Since the end of July, the United States and allies have re-located approximately 122,300 people from Afghanistan.
The latest evacuations took place on 26 U.S. and two coalition flights, the White House official added.
“From August 29 at 3:00 AM EDT to August 30 at 3:00 AM EDT, a total of approximately 1,200 people were evacuated from Kabul. This is the result of 26 US military flights (26 C-17s) which carried approximately 1,200 evacuees, and 2 coalition flights which carried 50 people,” the official said.
The U.S. is set to completely pull out of Afghanistan on Tuesday amid terror threats. On Monday, the U.S. intercepted a rocket attack on the Hamid Karzai International Airport where a suicide bomber killed 13 U.S. service members and scores of Afghan civilians on Thursday.
President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Vice President Kamala D. Harris will be monitoring the developments with their national security team at the White House.
After 20 years of war and more than 200 people dead, President Biden has rejected calls to keep some troops in Afghanistan for several more years, saying it is not in the interest of the United States, especially after Kabul fell to the Taliban on August 15.
Simon Ateba is Chief White House Correspondent for Today News Africa. Simon covers President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, the U.S. government, the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and other financial and international institutions in Washington D.C. and New York City.