US can increase Afghanistan non-combatant evacuation capacity

The United States can substantially increase its ability to evacuate non-combatants from Afghanistan as its airlift out of the country continues, a top Pentagon officer said on 18 August.

A USAF C-17 pictured in a 2016 photo. The US used 18 flights of C-17s to evacuate roughly 2,000 people from Kabul in a 24-hour period ending the morning of 18 August as the Pentagon's airlift from Afghanistan continues. (US Air National Guard)

General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters that the Pentagon is averaging roughly 20 flights of Boeing C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft out of the country every 24 hours. The US has evacuated about 5,000 people, and intends to evacuate more, he said.

Over the past few days, the US Department of Defense has estimated that it can evacuate somewhere between 5,000 and 9,000 people a day from Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul. However, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters the morning of 18 August that the department is not set to hit that number in the coming days. Karzai airport is the only airport in Afghanistan operating flights.

The Pentagon is specifically focused on conducting a non-combatant evacuation operation from Afghanistan. Gen Milley said this will probably be the second-largest non-combatant evacuation operation conducted by the US.

The US is focused on establishing and maintaining security at Karzai airport and defending it from attack. It is also focusing on evacuating US citizens and third-country nationals, allies, or partners, who want to leave Afghanistan. This includes those with Department of State (DOS)-designated special immigrant visas, and others approved by the DOS.

There are about 4,500 US troops in Afghanistan and the Pentagon has been authorised to deploy up to 6,000.