A senior official in the US Department of Defense (Pentagon) announced that the US evacuation of thousands of civilians from the Afghan capital, Kabul, resumed Friday, after it stopped for hours due to the fullness of some US bases in the region, especially in Qatar.

US President Joe Biden described the operation as "one of the largest air evacuations in history."

"Flights have resumed and American military flights to Qatar and other places have taken off," General Hank Taylor of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff told reporters, explaining that some flights will go to Germany, where the United States has several military bases.

Thousands of Afghans, carrying documents, children and some belongings, are still trying to get out of the country through Kabul airport, despite the fact that armed Taliban elements urged those without travel documents to return to their homes.

The Taliban and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) said 12 people had been killed since Sunday in and around the airport.


Max power

On the other hand, Reuters news agency quoted US officials that no plane took off on evacuation flights from Kabul over a period of a few hours on Friday, due to the lack of a place to go after the increase in the flow at Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar, and its reaching its maximum capacity, where it is hosting 8000 Afghan evacuees.

Reuters quoted a senior official as saying that the American commander on the ground issued an order to resume flights, indicating that this may include more destinations, including Bahrain, but Europe was chosen for ease of providing logistical supplies, and flights are likely to go to western and southern Europe, and Ramstein Air Base. in Germany.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said in a statement that Berlin had agreed with Washington to temporarily accommodate evacuees at Ramstein Air Base.

It was not immediately clear what other European countries would be involved in the effort.

In the same context, US State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a press briefing that a number of countries in Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia are receiving or will soon receive temporarily Americans and perhaps others who are evacuated from Kabul, on their soil.


beating Americans

On the other hand, the Pentagon said that reports of Americans being beaten by the Taliban are worrying, and that the movement has been informed that this is unacceptable.

The Pentagon added that the Taliban has been informed that it is their duty to secure the passage of Americans and Afghans who have the required documents and allow them to pass through the checkpoints it is setting up in Kabul.

In turn, the US State Department said Friday that the United States takes "very seriously" reports of Americans being harassed or beaten in the Afghan capital.

State Department spokesman Ned Price said the Taliban have assured Washington that they will allow Afghans who want to leave the country to do so after August 31.

Reuters news agency quoted a Taliban official as denying that Afghans were prevented from leaving the country through Kabul airport.

He added that the movement only distances those who do not have legal travel documents, most importantly adding to the chaos at the gate of Kabul Airport.

The vicinity of the airport in the Afghan capital witnessed shooting to disperse hundreds of Afghans trying to enter the airport in an attempt to leave the country.


The hardest evacuation in history

In a speech from the White House yesterday, Friday, US President Joe Biden pledged to evacuate every American who wants to leave Afghanistan, and indicated that the United States has evacuated 13,000 people from Afghanistan since August 14 and 18,000 since last July, in addition to thousands On special trips organized by the US government.

"This is one of the largest and most difficult air evacuations in history, and the only country in the world capable of that capacity in the farthest corners of the world with such precision is the United States of America," Biden said.

"We will do everything we can and everything we can to provide the safe evacuation of our Afghan allies, our partners, and those Afghans who might be targeted because of their association with the United States," he added.

Biden said that US officials are in constant contact with the Taliban, and warned them that any attack on his country's forces or disruption of its operations at the airport "will be met with a quick and strong response."

For its part, NATO said that foreign countries have evacuated a total of more than 18,000 since the Taliban took control of Kabul last Sunday.