US Evacuations from Afghanistan Continue in Final Hours

The United States is continuing to fly people out of Afghanistan in the final hours before its planned total withdrawal¹ from the country on Tuesday.

As 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 defense² system. He said there were no U.S. casualties and the airfield³ remained open.

The 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.

Islamic 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.

The U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan was launched in 2001 to oust⁵ the Taliban for providing refuge to Osama bin⁴ Laden⁶ and al-Qaida. Al-Qaida was the extremist group that led the September 11 terrorist attacks in America that killed nearly 3,000 people.

Getting the last Americans out

The 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.

Officials said Monday that about 1,200 people were evacuated⁷ from Kabul during the past 24 hours aboard U.S. military flights and two allied⁸ flights. The officials said about 114,000 people have been flown out of Afghanistan since August 14.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told ABC News on Sunday the final evacuation effort will be "the most dangerous time in an already extraordinarily⁹ dangerous mission these last couple of days."

National Security Advisor¹⁰ Jake Sullivan said the U.S. does not plan to have an ongoing¹¹ 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."

Blinken 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 noted¹² that while the airport was important, there were other ways to leave Afghanistan, such as by road. "Many countries border Afghanistan," Blinken said.

He 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.

Qatar to help with plans for Afghanistan

As the U.S. completes its withdrawal, officials will be looking to work with the Gulf¹³ 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.

On 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.

Reports say Qatar has also been asked by the Taliban to provide civilian¹⁴ technical assistance at the airport once U.S. troops leave. Officials in Qatar have not commented on the reports.

United Nations agencies recently sought help from Qatar to support its humanitarian¹⁵ aid efforts in Afghanistan.

Words in This Story

evacuation – n. the act of moving people from a dangerous place to somewhere safer

casualty – n. someone who is injured or killed in an accident or war

extraordinary – adj. very special, unusual or strange

mission – n. an important job a group of people are sent to do

fashion – n. the way in which something is done

facilitate – v. to make something possible or easier

virtual – adj. used to describe something that can be done or seen using computers or the internet instead of happening in a physical place

1 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

2 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

3 airfield   

n.飞机场

参考例句：

• The foreign guests were motored from the airfield to the hotel.用车把外宾从机场送到旅馆。
• The airfield was seized by enemy troops.机场被敌军占领。

4 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

5 oust   

vt.剥夺，取代，驱逐

参考例句：

• The committee wanted to oust him from the union.委员会想把他从工会中驱逐出去。
• The leaders have been ousted from power by nationalists.这些领导人被民族主义者赶下了台。

6 laden   

adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的

参考例句：

• He is laden with heavy responsibility.他肩负重任。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat.将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。

7 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

8 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。

9 extraordinarily   

adv.格外地；极端地

参考例句：

• She is an extraordinarily beautiful girl.她是个美丽非凡的姑娘。
• The sea was extraordinarily calm that morning.那天清晨，大海出奇地宁静。

10 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

11 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

12 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

13 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

14 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

15 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。