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WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden will address the nation on Tuesday as U.S. and coalition forces accelerate evacuation efforts in Afghanistan, a mission expected to end in a week.
He is expected to stick to the schedule he previously set for the full withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan.
Biden’s remarks come after an emergency G-7 meeting that expected the leaders of the world’s seven major industrialized democracies to urge the US president to extend a self-imposed departure date to August 31.
Biden previously announced that it would extend the departure date beyond August 31, but has not yet done so. However, the Taliban have said that the withdrawal period is a “red line” and that there will be consequences if foreign troops remain in Afghanistan after that date.
Thousands of Afghans have fled the gates of Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul to seek a flight out of the country while the Taliban consolidates control of the country.
The White House said Tuesday that the U.S. has evacuated or helped evacuate or help evacuate approximately 21,600 of them within 12 hours on Monday, about 58,700 people from Afghanistan since Aug. 14.
The US has relocated around 63,900 people since the end of July, the White House said. According to the State Department, several thousand Americans are still waiting to be evacuated.
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