Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby and Army Maj. Gen. Hank Taylor held a briefing on evacuation and security efforts in Afghanistan. General Taylor provided an update on a U.S. drone strike Sunday against an ISIS-K target. He then shared the total number of evacuees flown out of Kabul has risen to 122,000, 5,400 of which are American.
From CNN’s Ellie Kaufman
About 1,200 evacuees departed Afghanistan on 26 military C-17 aircrafts in the last 24 hours, Gen. Hank Taylor, deputy director of Regional Operations for the Joint Staff, said during a briefing at the Pentagon on Monday. In total, 28 flights departed from Kabul airport in the last 24 hours, he added.
More than 122,000 people – including 5,400 Americans – have departed Afghanistan as of today, Taylor added.
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Now, evacuees are awaiting follow-on transport in both the US Central Command area of responsibility which covers the Middle East and the European Command area of responsibility which covers Europe.
Another 27,000 evacuees are waiting for “follow-on movement from six active locations,” in the US Central Command area, and 22,000 people are waiting for follow on movement in the European Command area, Taylor said.
There are 13,000 evacuees that remain at five different locations in the Northern Command area of responsibility, Taylor added.
17 flights will transport more than 3,700 people to both Dulles and Philadelphia International Airports today, Taylor said.
“These numbers are a snapshot in time and movement of personnel is very fluid. We do not expect these passenger totals to match the total number of evacuees from Afghanistan nor will they match the total number of evacuees in the United States,” Taylor said.