As of Tuesday evening, Mr. Biden said that 12,000 people were evacuated from Kabul during the previous 12 hours, the result of 19 military flights and 31 coalition flights. That brings the total number evacuated since the end of July to 75,900 people, the president said — well beyond the upper limits of what the Pentagon said was possible only days earlier. They are sending multiple updates to reporters each day showing that the pace of people being flown to safety is accelerating. In private conversations and in public statements, officials — including the president himself — have suggested that the evacuation of American citizens and Afghan allies is likely to rank among the most ambitious such efforts ever. Their hope is that if the history books mark this moment, it will be as evidence of order and operational competence.

Source: International New York Times August 24, 2021 22:47 UTC