WATCH: Biden says U.S. has evacuated over 70,000 from Afghanistan
WASHINGTON, DC -- President Biden spoke from the White House Tuesday afternoon about the situation in Afghanistan following his decision to stick with the Aug. 31 deadline for withdrawing troops from the country.
In his remarks, Biden gave an update on the number of people evacuated from Afghanistan, saying that the United States has assisted in the evacuation of 70,700 people since Aug. 14 and 75,900 people since the end of July.
"Another 19 US military flights, 18 C-17s and one C-130 carrying approximately 6,400 evacuees, and 31 coalition flights carrying 5,600 people have have left Kabul just in the last 12 hours — a total of 50 more flights, 12,000 more people since I've updated you this morning," Biden said.
His speech followed a meeting with fellow G7 leaders on evacuation efforts how nations can come together in support of the Afghan people.
The President said he had a "productive discussion" with his G7 counterparts, as well as leaders of the United Nations, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and the European Union earlier Tuesday.
"There was strong agreement among the leaders, both about the evacuation mission underway as well as the need to coordinate our approach to Afghanistan as we move forward," he said.
The Taliban, meanwhile, said Tuesday that they would not allow Afghans to leave the country and warned that the U.S. must stick to next week's deadline to pull out.
Afghanistan evacuation efforts have continued to pick up steam in the past days, now far exceeding the administration's initial daily goals.
Other key points from Biden's speech:
- - U.S. on pace to finish evacuations by Aug. 3
- - Making deadline depends on Taliban's continued cooperation
- - Pentagon, State to develop contingency plans to adjust timetable
- - Longer the U.S. stays, the more risk from terror attacks
