US steps up evacuation from Kabul

WASHINGTON: The US military said that it was stepping up its evacuation from Afghanistan Tuesday and that the Taliban were not interrupting operations at the Kabul airport.

Major General Hank Taylor said that US military officials at the airport had been in communication with commanders of Taliban forces in recent days and that they were confident that the removal of thousands of US citizens and Afghans fleeing the country on US military aircraft would continue over the coming days.

"We have had no hostile interactions, no attack and no threat by the Taliban," said Taylor, a senior official with the Pentagon’ Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Taylor said that since the airport was reopened early Tuesday following an hours-long closure for security problems, the US military has evacuated close to 800 people, among them 165 Americans, on seven flights.