US Secretary of Defence Austin makes shocking statements regarding security of US citizens in Afghanistan

Washington/Kabul: – Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin has made shocking statements about the security of US citizens in the Afghan capital, Kabul. There are still 15,000 Americans in Afghanistan. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin has said that protection cannot be provided until they arrive at the airport in Kabul. The US State Department has issued a similar statement. This has intensified the ongoing criticism of the Biden administration.

A few months ago, US President Joe Biden patted his own back announcing “America is Back” on the international level. Biden also said that under his leadership, the United States would tackle all threats, claiming that the United States had fallen behind under former President Donald Trump. But the Biden administration appears to have miserably failed on the issue of withdrawal from Afghanistan. International media and analysts, including political circles in the United States, have criticised that this is the end of US dominance as a superpower. Statements from the Department of Defence as well as the state department seem to be part of that.

On Tuesday night, the US State Department issued a note stating that the safety of US citizens in Afghanistan could not be guaranteed. Later, the US embassy in Afghanistan posted a similar notice on its website, calling it a security alert. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin made the revelation at a news conference at the Pentagon on Sunday.

The Taliban have set up checkpoints at various locations in the Afghan capital, Kabul. Taliban squads are also stationed outside Kabul’s international airport, and people are being stopped and sent back. A few days ago, some people were killed in an incident outside the airport. Against this backdrop, reporters asked Austin what the United States was doing to bring its citizens back safely. In response, Austin said the US military does not have the capability to repatriate American citizens from Afghanistan.

Defence Secretary Austin also acknowledged that the US military could not be deployed outside the airport and that no talks had taken place. He said the United States was trying to open a dialogue with the Taliban. The head of the US Defence Department, General Mark Milley, has said that the security of Kabul airport is with the US military and 5,000 troops have been deployed. The Taliban has not interfered in the work of the US military, but the situation is critical and could change at any time, General Milley said.

More than 10,000 US citizens are stranded in the capital, Kabul, according to US media reports. It is estimated that nearly a hundred thousand people from Afghanistan, associated with NGOs and other groups, who cooperated with the United States, could seek asylum in the United States. Against this backdrop, the confession of the US Secretary of Defence is noteworthy. Statements from the State Department and the Secretary of Defence have provoked an outcry from members of the US Congress, slamming the Biden administration. Republican leader Kevin McCarthy has called the Biden administration’s policy incomprehensible.