Biden must provide Afghans with air support beyond Aug 31 – US Senate Minority Leader

Washington : US President Joe Biden should commit to providing air support to Afghan forces beyond the original August 31 end date due to escalating violence and a Taliban (banned in Russia) advance in the country, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said.

“President Biden should immediately commit to providing more support to Afghan forces, starting with close air support beyond August 31st. Without it, al Qaeda and the Taliban may celebrate the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks by burning down our Embassy in Kabul,” McConnell said in a statement on Thursday.

The Taliban have captured several important provincial capitals in Afghanistan over the last several weeks, including the country’s second largest city Kandahar earlier on Thursday.

The Defense Department announced that it will send several thousand troops back into Afghanistan to assist with the departure of US embassy staff and accelerate the processing of Special Immigrant Visa applications for Afghans who assisted US forces.

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