US Evacuations from Afghanistan Continue in Final Hours
2021-08-31
LRC
TXT
大字
小字
滚动
全页
1The United States is continuing to fly people out of Afghanistan in the final hours before its planned total withdrawal from the country on Tuesday.
2As evacuation efforts continued Monday at Kabul airport, a series of rockets targeted the area.
3U.S. Central Command spokesman Bill Urban said five rockets were fired at the airport,
4but were stopped by a missile defense system.
5He said there were no U.S. casualties and the airfield remained open.
6The Islamic State group in Afghanistan claimed responsibility for the rocket attacks.
7The extremist group also claimed responsibility last week for a suicide bombing at an airport gate that killed at least 169 Afghans and 13 U.S. service members.
8Islamic State is far more extreme than the Taliban,
9which seized power in Afghanistan earlier this month after capturing most of the country in a matter of days.
10The two groups have fought each other in the past,
11and the Taliban has said it will not provide shelter to terrorist groups.
12The U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan was launched in 2001 to oust the Taliban for providing refuge to Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida.
13Al-Qaida was the extremist group that led the September 11 terrorist attacks in America that killed nearly 3,000 people.
14The U.S. evacuation effort is centered on getting the last Americans out of Afghanistan before President Joe Biden's promise to withdraw all U.S. forces by August 31.
15U.S. officials said Sunday there were about 300 remaining American citizens who want to leave.
16Officials said Monday that about 1,200 people were evacuated from Kabul during the past 24 hours aboard U.S. military flights and two allied flights.
17The officials said about 114,000 people have been flown out of Afghanistan since August 14.
18U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told ABC News on Sunday the final evacuation effort will be "the most dangerous time in an already extraordinarily dangerous mission these last couple of days."
19National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said the U.S. does not plan to have an ongoing embassy presence in Afghanistan after the final U.S. troop withdrawal.
20But, he promised, the U.S. "will make sure there is safe passage" for any American citizen or legal permanent resident, after Tuesday.
21In addition, he said safe passage would be provided to "those Afghans who helped us."
22Blinken said the U.S. was working with other countries in the area to either keep Kabul airport open after Tuesday or to reopen it "in a timely fashion."
23He noted that while the airport was important, there were other ways to leave Afghanistan, such as by road.
24"Many countries border Afghanistan," Blinken said.
25He added that the U.S. was "making sure that we have in place all of the necessary tools and means to facilitate the travel for those who seek to leave Afghanistan" after Tuesday.
26As the U.S. completes its withdrawal, officials will be looking to work with the Gulf nation of Qatar to help shape the country's future.
27This is because Qatar has close ties with both the U.S. and the Taliban.
28On Monday, Qatar was taking part in a virtual meeting led by Blinken and attended by major U.S. allies.
29Officials said the purpose of the meeting was to map out a cooperative plan for Afghanistan in the coming days.
30Reports say Qatar has also been asked by the Taliban to provide civilian technical assistance at the airport once U.S. troops leave.
31Officials in Qatar have not commented on the reports.
32United Nations agencies recently sought help from Qatar to support its humanitarian aid efforts in Afghanistan.
33I'm Bryan Lynn.
1The United States is continuing to fly people out of Afghanistan in the final hours before its planned total withdrawal from the country on Tuesday. 2As evacuation efforts continued Monday at Kabul airport, a series of rockets targeted the area. U.S. Central Command spokesman Bill Urban said five rockets were fired at the airport, but were stopped by a missile defense system. He said there were no U.S. casualties and the airfield remained open. 3The Islamic State group in Afghanistan claimed responsibility for the rocket attacks. The extremist group also claimed responsibility last week for a suicide bombing at an airport gate that killed at least 169 Afghans and 13 U.S. service members. 4Islamic State is far more extreme than the Taliban, which seized power in Afghanistan earlier this month after capturing most of the country in a matter of days. The two groups have fought each other in the past, and the Taliban has said it will not provide shelter to terrorist groups. 5The U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan was launched in 2001 to oust the Taliban for providing refuge to Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida. Al-Qaida was the extremist group that led the September 11 terrorist attacks in America that killed nearly 3,000 people. 6Getting the last Americans out 7The U.S. evacuation effort is centered on getting the last Americans out of Afghanistan before President Joe Biden's promise to withdraw all U.S. forces by August 31. U.S. officials said Sunday there were about 300 remaining American citizens who want to leave. 8Officials said Monday that about 1,200 people were evacuated from Kabul during the past 24 hours aboard U.S. military flights and two allied flights. The officials said about 114,000 people have been flown out of Afghanistan since August 14. 9U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told ABC News on Sunday the final evacuation effort will be "the most dangerous time in an already extraordinarily dangerous mission these last couple of days." 10National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said the U.S. does not plan to have an ongoing embassy presence in Afghanistan after the final U.S. troop withdrawal. But, he promised, the U.S. "will make sure there is safe passage" for any American citizen or legal permanent resident, after Tuesday. In addition, he said safe passage would be provided to "those Afghans who helped us." 11Blinken said the U.S. was working with other countries in the area to either keep Kabul airport open after Tuesday or to reopen it "in a timely fashion." He noted that while the airport was important, there were other ways to leave Afghanistan, such as by road. "Many countries border Afghanistan," Blinken said. 12He added that the U.S. was "making sure that we have in place all of the necessary tools and means to facilitate the travel for those who seek to leave Afghanistan" after Tuesday. 13Qatar to help with plans for Afghanistan 14As the U.S. completes its withdrawal, officials will be looking to work with the Gulf nation of Qatar to help shape the country's future. This is because Qatar has close ties with both the U.S. and the Taliban. 15On Monday, Qatar was taking part in a virtual meeting led by Blinken and attended by major U.S. allies. Officials said the purpose of the meeting was to map out a cooperative plan for Afghanistan in the coming days. 16Reports say Qatar has also been asked by the Taliban to provide civilian technical assistance at the airport once U.S. troops leave. Officials in Qatar have not commented on the reports. 17United Nations agencies recently sought help from Qatar to support its humanitarian aid efforts in Afghanistan. 18I'm Bryan Lynn. 19The Associated Press and Reuters reported this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the reports for VOA Learning English. Hai Do was the editor. 20We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page. 21___________________________________________ 22Words in This Story 23evacuation - n. the act of moving people from a dangerous place to somewhere safer 24casualty - n. someone who is injured or killed in an accident or war 25extraordinary - adj. very special, unusual or strange 26mission - n. an important job a group of people are sent to do 27fashion - n. the way in which something is done 28facilitate - v. to make something possible or easier 29virtual - adj. used to describe something that can be done or seen using computers or the internet instead of happening in a physical place