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Afghanistan updates: US, Taliban hold first direct talks since withdrawal
State Dept. spokesperson Ned Price called the talks "candid and professional."
It's been more than a month since the U.S. withdrew all U.S. troops from Afghanistan on President Joe Biden's order to leave by Aug. 31, ending a chaotic evacuation operation after the Afghan government collapsed and the Taliban seized control of the country.
In testimony to Congress last month, their first since the withdrawal of all U.S. forces from Afghanistan -- Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark Milley and Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, commander of U.S. Central Command, candidly admitted that they had recommended to Biden that the U.S. should keep a troop presence there, appearing to contradict his assertions to ABC News' George Stephanopoulos.
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Pentagon responds to distressing scenes outside airport in Kabul
Ahead of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley holding a briefing at 3 p.m., Pentagon press secretary John Kirby spoke to reporters on Wednesday about the distressing scenes outside the airport in Kabul.
He said U.S. military officials were aware of reports that Taliban fighters are not letting Afghans through to the airport and that's one reason the top American commander in Kabul, Adm. Peter Vasely, has reached out to his Taliban counterpart.
Asked what more can be done to ensure safe passage of Afghans to the airport, Kirby said only that the Pentagon is working "very hard" on the issue.
"I don't have a specific next step for you," he said. "We are in communication with the Taliban. We want to see this process go more smoothly."
Kirby also confirmed incidents overnight in which some American troops providing security at the perimeter of the airport fired their weapons in the air as part of “crowd control measures.”
He said the U.S. goal to evacuate 5,000 to 9,000 individuals a day can be accomplished "when we’re at full throttle."
Top Pentagon officials to brief reporters as evacuations continue
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, are set to brief reporters at the Pentagon at 3 p.m. as the U.S. races to evacuate as many as 11,000 Americans and tens of thousands of Afghans out of Kabul by the end of the month.
State Department spokesperson Ned Price also has scheduled a briefing for 2:30 p.m.
The president is scheduled to deliver remarks on COVID-19 and vaccinations from the White House at 4:30 p.m. It’s unclear if he’ll take questions on Afghanistan.
But Biden will sit down with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos on Wednesday for an exclusive one-on-one interview, the president's first since the withdrawal from Afghanistan.
One Afghan family's harrowing account of getting to Kabul's airport
"Khan," a computer scientist who worked with a U.S. contractor on the mission in Afghanistan and whose name is being withheld to protect his identity, boarded a U.S. military aircraft on Wednesday with his 3-year-old son and wife, who is 35 weeks pregnant, according to his lawyer.
It was their third attempt to reach the Kabul airport after they picked up their Special Immigrant Visas on Saturday, hours before the U.S. embassy shuttered.
The chaos on Sunday kept them away, and on Tuesday, there were too many Taliban fighters to get close to the gates. Khan spent several hours on Wednesday trying to reach multiple gates.
The north gate was mobbed, with U.S. troops firing warning shots into the air or deploying tear gas to disperse the crowds, according to his lawyer, who was on FaceTime with him.
There were hours when it seemed like Khan and his family wouldn't be able to get through, forcing him to consider trying alone and leaving them behind, his lawyer told ABC News' Conor Finnegan, but "ultimately, it was his persistence that got them in."
Once inside the airport, the process was efficient, his lawyer said. Two of her clients and their families were on flights within 30 minutes of being processed and entering the airport.
But the chaos outside is horrific, and Afghans are receiving conflicting correspondence from the U.S. embassy -- some being told to shelter in place, others given specific instructions on which gates to proceed to -- but that situation changing rapidly too, his lawyer said.
Taliban seen forcefully patrolling area near Kabul airport
Thousands were still outside the airport in Kabul as the U.S. continues its evacuation efforts Wednesday and the Taliban patrolled the surrounding streets, only allowing foreigners through and occasionally firing warning shots into the air, ABC News Senior Foreign Correspondent Ian Pannell reported.
The Taliban on Tuesday promised an “amnesty” for those who worked with the U.S. government and said it would allow for their safe passage to the airport, but on the ground on Wednesday, members of the Taliban were seen whipping Afghan civilians.
As many as 11,000 Americans and tens of thousands of Afghans still are desperately trying to leave the country. The U.S. said late Tuesday it had evacuated 3,200 people from Afghanistan including all U.S. Embassy personnel except for a core group of diplomats. Officials have said they plan to launch one flight per hour to hopefully evacuate up to 9,000 people each day.
Still, the situation remains tense across Afghanistan, with the international community paying close attention to the Taliban’s every move.
Outside of Kabul, about 90 miles away in the eastern city of Jalalabad, anti-Taliban protesters were met with violence from fighters after replacing the Taliban flag in the city’s main square with the Afghan national flag, The Associated Press reported.