MASON, Ohio —

The community is coming together to try to help a local hero heal.

Veterans Day is Thursday and there is a push to finish a fundraiser for Marine Cpl. Kelsee Lainhart with a big boost.

Lainhart was badly hurt in an attack during the U.S. pullout from Afghanistan in August.

Family members said there is hope as she progresses in her recovery.

Lainhart's uncle, Kevin Ingram, said she is determined to walk again.

Right now, he said she cannot feel below her waist.

In the meantime, the community is rallying around her.

"She's always wanted to be in the Marine Corps. She started basic military training when she was 17 years old, got injured when she was 19. She's now 20," Ingram said.

He reflected on his niece's journey and her resilience.

Ingram also remembered the punch in the gut, when he learned a young woman he considered practically a daughter was hurt in the attack at the Kabul Airport in August.

"It's devastating. I knew where she was. I knew that she had worked the Abbey Gate," Ingram said.

Lainhart, 20, graduated from East Central High School in Dearborn County in 2019.

Her family and fellow Marines have seen her grit and her strength as she recovers in Chicago at the Shirley Ryan facility.

Her uncle said it is not a VA Hospital, so there will be additional costs.

Ingram said she cannot walk, at least now, but that's no deterrent.

"Kelsee is a warrior. She is a Marine. She's got a positive attitude. She is going to walk again. She tells me that every time I talk to her. She's working very hard. They have all kinds of different treatments they're doing," Ingram said.

People have rallied around her.

Basco Shower Enclosures, where Ingram works, launched a fundraiser to help her, too.

It ends on Veterans Day with the company putting a percentage toward each donation.

"We don't look at this, it's not this week, it's the next 40, 50, 60 years that we're looking at. If you think about, if Kelsee doesn't fully recover and walk again, you know, you're going to have to have adaptive housing situations, you're going to have cars that are adaptive," Ingram said.

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Many in Lainhart's family have served in the military, including Ingram.

Now, the community is saying thank you.

"We'd like to just kind of get as much support as we can now and push this thing forward through the finish line," he said.

Ingram said they will still gladly take donations after Veterans Day.

He also wanted to honor the Marine Corps birthday on Wednesday.

Ingram told WLWT Lainhart still wants to chase her dream of going to college and being an FBI agent.

Basco Shower Enclosures has raised more than $20,000 so far.

There are several ways you can make a donation, including by Venmo.

There's more information on the Basco Shower Enclosures website here.

CLINTON, Tenn. — When Travis Ervin left Afghanistan in 2010, he thought his mission in the war-torn country was complete. But this former Marine, who was tasked with clearing the cities of Marjah and Sangin from the Taliban, has found himself on a new mission: rescuing the interpreter he went to combat with.

As the country fell back into the hands of the Taliban in August, Ervin and his girlfriend began working to get his interpreter and his interpreter's family safely out of the country.

Because circumstances are still incredibly dangerous, Ervin asked that his interpreter's name not be published for this story.

"He was in gunfights with me, I've seen him pick up my dead Marines and carry them to a helicopter, and we’re just going to leave this guy and leave his family. It’s up to the American people to do this, to help these people," Ervin said, holding back tears.

For two months, Ervin and his girlfriend deployed all their backchannel resources in an effort to rescue his interpreter and his family. Eventually, he was able to get the interpreter's family to the airport in Kabul. It was a painstakingly dangerous process that finally got them to the United States.

Last week, the family arrived in East Tennessee, where they are now refugees living in Ervin's home.

"We wake up and hear the kids running around. It was like, 'This is the greatest day of my life,' being woken up by these kids," he said.

Ervin’s basement has been converted into a bedroom and prayer room. This family, who’s never had electricity before, is now starting a new life. Community donations for everything from food to clothes to toys for the kids have been pouring in.

In an effort to help the family with legal fees and housing costs, a GoFund Me has been created aimed at raising $150,000.

"You have to understand that these people come from real oppression," he added.

But the mission is far from over. While Ervin was able to get his interpreter's wife and kids safely to Tennessee, his interpreter was separated from the family during Afghanistan's collapse and remains overseas.
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"I will always help the Afghan people, always. These people need our help. It’s not up to the government. People think the government will come in with a cape and help. That's not going to happen. We need to help these people," he said passionately.

But Ervin is determined to not lose sight of the major victory that’s already been accomplished. The mere fact that this family is here that a 7-year-old daughter is starting school in America, is a victory within itself.

"Research Afghanistan and women going to school and think about this little girl going into a classroom. We’re so lucky. This family is so lucky; it’s hard to put into words. It really is," he added.

Travis Ervin’s latest mission may still not be complete, this is a victory he will savor for now.

Emal Ahmadi knew his brother Zamarai wasn't the ISIS-K facilitator that American officials portrayed him to be in the days after his death. Now, at last, the whole world knows that too.Zamarai Ahmadi and nine other civilians, including seven children, were killed in a U.S. airstrike in Kabul on Aug. 29. For nearly three weeks, U.S. officials kept insisting the strike was "righteous" and that at least one ISIS-K facilitator was killed.On Friday, the Pentagon admitted it was a tragic mistake. Zamarai Ahmadi, a 43-year-old technical engineer at Nutrition and Education International, a U.S. nonprofit, had no ties with ISIS-K.Emal Ahmadi told CNN that while the acknowledgment by the U.S. that his older brother was a victim and not a terrorist brought the family some solace, they are still struggling to understand what happened."The U.S. that inside this area, inside the car, children, why they target innocent in this area?" he asked.His daughter Malika was killed in the attack alongside her uncle, her seven cousins and another child. She was just two years old."They are, all of them, innocent, like my cute daughter ... she was so lovely," Emal Ahmadi said.He spoke to CNN inside the damaged family home, a two-story house in a tidy Kabul neighborhood that Zamarai Ahmadi shared with his three brothers and their wives and children. The green metal gate, pierced through with shrapnel three weeks ago, is now guarded by the Taliban. On the streets outside, children are playing.No one has cleaned the site or removed the debris still scattered around the compound. The burnt skeleton of a white Toyota Corolla, the target of the drone strike, is still in the middle of the yard, its roof blown off. Several of the children were in the car when the missile hit, the family said. Their little sandals, charred and deformed by the heat of the explosion, lying on top of the debris.On the kitchen counter upstairs, two potatoes, a knife and bright red spice rest prepared next to the cooking pot. A reminder of a family dinner that never happened.Emal Ahmadi said no U.S. officials have reached out to the family directly.US Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III has offered his condolences in a statement issued on Friday, calling Ahmadi an "innocent victim" whose activities were "completely harmless." "We apologize, and we will endeavor to learn from this horrible mistake," he said.Gen. Frank McKenzie, commander of U.S. Central Command, said the Pentagon was considering reparations payments to the family and said that while it was "very difficult" to reach out to people "on the ground in Afghanistan," they will be attempting to do so.When asked what they want from the U.S., Emal Ahmadi and his brother Romal, whose three children -- Aayat, 2, Binyamen, 6, and Armin, 7 -- were also killed in the strike, said "justice."At a dusty Kabul cemetery where his children, brother and other family members were laid to rest just a few weeks ago, Romal Ahmadi told CNN he wants the drone operators to be tried for the killings in court.The family had to borrow money to pay for the funerals, there were so many at one time they couldn't afford to pay from their own pocket.Asked whether he could ever forgive the U.S. for what happened, Emal Ahmadi said "maybe.""But how should I do ... I lost my family ... no one is able to return them back," he said.

A United States military investigation into a deadly Kabul drone strike on a vehicle in August has found it killed 10 civilians and the driver and that the vehicle targeted was likely not a threat associated with ISIS-K, announced Gen. Frank McKenzie, the top general of U.S. Central Command, at the Pentagon on Friday.

McKenzie told reporters that the strike was a "mistake" and offered an apology.

"This strike was taken in the earnest belief that it would prevent an imminent threat to our forces and the evacuees at the airport, but it was a mistake and I offer my sincere apology," he said.

McKenzie added that he is "fully responsible for this strike and this tragic outcome."

The Pentagon had maintained that at least one ISIS-K facilitator and three civilians were killed in what Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark Milley had previously called a "righteous strike" on the compound on Aug. 29. The investigation released Friday found that all of those killed in the residential compound were civilians.

In the lead up to the strike, drone operators surveilled the courtyard for up to 4 to 5 minutes. In that time, a male driver left the vehicle. One child was parking the vehicle and other children were present in the car and the courtyard — as CNN had been told by the Ahmadi family.

The military based the strike on a reasonable certainty standard to launch the strike on the vehicle. Tragically, it was the wrong vehicle, a U.S. military official familiar with the investigation told CNN earlier Friday, adding that reasonable certainty is not 100% certainty.

"We didn't take the strike because we thought we were wrong — we took the strike because we thought we had a good target," McKenzie said.

Previously, U.S. Central Command pointed to "significant secondary explosions" as evidence of a "substantial amount of explosive material" in the vehicle. On Friday, the U.S. military source said that after reviewing footage from infra-red sensors, they would no longer characterize this as an explosion -- instead, it was more of a flare up.

The U.S. official said that in the time leading up to the strike, the U.S. had at least 60 different intelligence reports about threat streams toward U.S. forces at Hamid Karzai International Airport.

On Friday, Milley released a statement on the strike calling it "a horrible tragedy."

"In a dynamic high-threat environment, the commanders on the ground had appropriate authority and had reasonable certainty that the target was valid, but after deeper post-strike analysis, our conclusion is that innocent civilians were killed," Milley said in a statement.

"This is a horrible tragedy of war and its [sic] heart wrenching and we are committed to being fully transparent about this incident," he added.

This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.

WASHINGTON —

Related video above: Iowa may receive 695 Afghan evacuees for resettlement

The Biden administration began notifying governors and state refugee coordinators across the country about how many Afghan evacuees from among the first group of nearly 37,000 arrivals are slated to be resettled in their states.

California is projected to take more arrivals than any other — more than 5,200 people, according to State Department data for the Afghan Placement and Assistance program obtained by The Associated Press.

Alabama and Mississippi are each slated to welcome 10, U.S. officials said Wednesday. Hawaii, South Dakota, West Virginia, Wyoming and the District of Columbia are not expected to resettle anyone from the first group of evacuees who fled during the final days of the chaotic U.S. withdrawal last month.

The administration has requested funding from Congress to help resettle 65,000 Afghans in the United States by the end of this month and 95,000 by September 2022. President Joe Biden tapped the former governor of his home state of Delaware, Jack Markell, to temporarily serve as his point person on resettling Afghan evacuees in the United States.

States with a historically large number of Afghans who resettled in the U.S. over the last 20 years — including California, Maryland, Texas and Virginia — are again welcoming a disproportionate number of evacuees, according to the data. Many gravitate to northern Virginia, the Maryland suburbs of D.C. and northern California — some of the most expensive housing markets in the country.

Oklahoma, which over the course of the 20-year war had resettled a relatively small number of Afghans, is slated to resettle 1,800 new arrivals.

Many of the new evacuees requested to be resettled in those states because they already have family and close friends living in those states, according to two U.S. officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the calls to state government officials. Resettlement agencies also have a large presence and capacity in many of those states.

The State Department resettled evacuees based on the advice of local affiliates of nine national resettlement agencies the U.S. government is working with, the officials said.

The officials said Afghan evacuees are advised that other parts of the country -- including areas with plentiful job openings and cheaper housing -- could be good places to begin their new lives in the U.S.

The Afghan evacuees go through a Department of Homeland Security-coordinated process of security vetting before being admitted. And every evacuee who comes into the United States also goes through health screening. Evacuees who are 12 and older are required to get the COVID-19 vaccination as a term of their humanitarian parolee status after entering the country.

Still, there have been unexpected complications.

U.S.-bound flights for evacuees who had been staying temporarily in third-country processing sites were halted last week after measles cases were discovered among several Afghans who had recently arrived in the U.S.

Some of the recent Afghan arrivals could also face a tough road ahead if Congress doesn't take action to treat them as refugees arriving in the U.S.

The Afghan evacuees are not currently eligible for food stamps, cash assistance through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program for low income families, Medicaid or other traditional refugee services that are funded through the Department of Health and Human Services.

Currently, each Afghan evacuee is slated to receive $1,225 to help with rent, furniture and food and provide a small amount of pocket money. Biden has called on Congress to take action to ensure that the recent arrivals have access to the same benefits as refugees.

Afghan women are continuing to fight for their rights as the Taliban crackdown intensifies.

"They are not our people. They are terrorist. They are killing our people," one protesting woman said.

Exclusive footage from a Newsy photojournalist in Kabul takes us inside one of the largest protests under Taliban control to date.

The march was Tuesday — just as the Taliban announced an all-male interim government.

All week, groups of women in Kabul and elsewhere in the country have taken to the streets at great personal risk — wearing hijabs and bravely showing their faces to the world.  

Their demands? Equal rights and inclusion in government and society.  

The activists also shouted support to resistance fighters in the Panjshir province — and against Pakistan's influence in their country.  

"Our demands are this: stop killing them," one protesting woman said.

In response, the Taliban have used whips, sticks and live ammunition to beat up the women and break up the protests — as seen in this footage captured with cell phones. 

A U.N. official says the violent Taliban crackdown has already led to four documented deaths. 

"We call on the Taliban to immediately cease the use of force towards, and the arbitrary detention of, those exercising their right to peaceful assembly and the journalists covering the protests," said U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani.

The Taliban have detained at least 14 reporters covering the protests — assaulting nine of them, according to the committee to protect journalists. 

One reporter told Newsy the Taliban hit him on the head, broke his ribs and stole his notes, accusing him of "spreading false propaganda."

Now, in one of its first moves, the new Taliban leadership has banned all demonstrations without government approval, warning of "severe legal consequences" for those who disobey. 

Still, women activists vow to keep on fighting.    

A reporter asked, "Are you going to continue doing this? It's dangerous." 

"Yes, for sure, for sure," a protester responded.  "We will never stop. We will never be afraid of this."

This story was originally reported by Newsy.com.

KABUL, Kabul —

Related video above: Taliban special forces stop women's protest

The Taliban said on Monday they have taken control of Panjshir province north of Kabul, the last holdout of anti-Taliban forces in the country and the only province the Taliban had not seized during their blitz across Afghanistan last month.

Thousands of Taliban fighters overran eight districts of Panjshir overnight, according to witnesses from the area who spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing for their safety. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid issued a statement Monday, saying Panjshir was now under the control of Taliban fighters.

The anti-Taliban forces had been led by the former vice president, Amrullah Saleh, and also the son of the iconic anti-Taliban fighter Ahmad Shah Massoud who was killed just days before the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States.

Nestled in the towering Hindu Kush mountains, the Panjshir Valley has a single narrow entrance. Local fighters held off the Soviets there in the 1980s and also the Taliban a decade later under the leadership of Massoud.

Massoud's son Ahmad had issued a statement Sunday, calling for an end to the fighting that had been blistering in recent days. The young British-schooled Massoud said his forces were ready to lay down their weapons but only if the Taliban agreed to end their assault. Late on Sunday, dozens of vehicles loaded with Taliban were seen swarming into Panjshir Valley.

There has been no statement from Saleh, Afghanistan's former vice president who had declared himself the acting president after President Ashraf Ghani fled the country on Aug. 15 as the Taliban reached the gates of the capital. The Taliban subsequently entered the presidency building that day.

In his statement, Mujahid sought to assure residents of Panjshir that they would be safe — even as scores of families reportedly fled into the mountains ahead of the Taliban's arrival.

"We give full confidence to the honorable people of Panjshir that they will not be subjected to any discrimination, that all are our brothers, and that we will serve a country and a common goal," Mujahid said in his statement.

The Taliban stepped up assault on Panjshir on Sunday, tweeting that their forces had overrun Rokha district, one of the largest of eight districts in the province. Several Taliban delegations have attempted negotiations with the holdouts there, but talks have failed to gain traction.

Fahim Dashti, the spokesman for the anti-Taliban group, was killed in a battle on Sunday, according to the group's Twitter account. Dashti was the voice of the group and a prominent media personality during previous governments.

He was also the nephew of Abdullah Abdullah, a senior official of the former government who is involved in negotiations with the Taliban on the future of Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, at least four planes chartered to evacuate several hundred people seeking to escape the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan have been unable to leave the country for days, officials said Sunday, with conflicting accounts emerging about why the flights weren't able to take off as pressure ramps up on the U.S. to help those left behind to flee.

An Afghan official at the airport in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif said that the would-be passengers were Afghans, many of whom did not have passports or visas, and thus were unable to leave the country. He said they had left the airport while the situation was sorted out.

The top Republican on the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee, however, said that the group included Americans and they were sitting on the planes, but the Taliban were not letting them take off, effectively "holding them hostage." He did not say where that information came from. It was not immediately possible to reconcile the accounts.

The final days of America's 20-year war in Afghanistan were marked by a harrowing airlift at Kabul's airport to evacuate tens of thousands of people — Americans and their allies — who feared what the future would hold, given the Taliban's history of repression, particularly of women. When the last troops pulled out on Aug. 30, though, many were left behind.

The U.S. promised to continue working with the new Taliban rulers to get those who want to leave out, and the militants pledged to allow anyone with the proper legal documents to leave. But Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas told "Fox News Sunday" that American citizens and Afghan interpreters were being kept on six planes.

KABUL, Kabul —

At least four planes chartered to evacuate several hundred people seeking to escape the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan have been unable to leave the country for days, officials said Sunday, with conflicting accounts emerging about why the flights weren't able to take off as pressure ramps up on the United States to help those left behind to flee.

An Afghan official at the airport in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif said that the would-be passengers were Afghans, many of whom did not have passports or visas, and thus were unable to leave the country. He said they had left the airport while the situation was sorted out.

The top Republican on the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee, however, said that the group included Americans and they were sitting on the planes, but the Taliban were not letting them take off, effectively "holding them hostage." He did not say where that information came from. It was not immediately possible to reconcile the accounts.

The final days of America's 20-year war in Afghanistan were marked by a harrowing airlift at Kabul's airport to evacuate tens of thousands of people — Americans and their allies — who feared what the future would hold, given the Taliban's history of repression, particularly of women. When the last troops pulled out on Aug. 30, though, many were left behind.

The U.S. promised to continue working with the new Taliban rulers to get those who want to leave out, and the militants pledged to allow anyone with the proper legal documents to leave. But Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas told "Fox News Sunday" that American citizens and Afghan interpreters were being kept on six planes.

"The Taliban will not let them leave the airport," he said, adding that he's worried "they're going to demand more and more, whether it be cash or legitimacy as the government of Afghanistan." He did not offer more details.

The Afghan official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject, said it was four planes, and their intended passengers were staying at hotels while authorities worked out whether they might be able to leave the country. The sticking point, he indicated, is that many did not have the right travel papers.

Residents of Mazar-e-Sharif also said the passengers were no longer at the airport. At least 10 families were seen at a local hotel waiting, they said, for a decision on their fates. None of them had passports or visas but said they had worked for companies allied with the U.S. or German military. Others were seen at restaurants.

The State Department has no reliable way to confirm information about such charter flights, including how many American citizens might be on them, since it no longer has people on the ground, according to a U.S. official. But the department will hold the Taliban to their pledges to let people travel freely, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

The small airport at Mazar-e-Sharif only recently began to handle international flights and so far only to Turkey. The planes in question were bound for Doha, Qatar, the Afghan official said. It was not clear who chartered them or why they were waiting in the northern city. The massive airlift happened at Kabul's international airport, which initially closed after the U.S. withdrawal but where domestic flights have now resumed.

Searing images of that chaotic evacuation — including people clinging to an airplane as it took off — came to define the final days of America's longest war, just weeks after Taliban fighters retook the country in a lightning offensive.

Since their takeover, the Taliban have sought to recast themselves as different from their 1990s incarnation, when they last ruled the country and imposed repressive restrictions across society. Women and girls were denied work and education, men were forced to grow beards, and television and music were banned.

Now, the world is waiting to see the face of the new government, and many Afghans remain skeptical. In the weeks since they took power, signals have been mixed: Government employees including women have been asked to return to work, but some women were later ordered home by lower-ranking Taliban. Universities and schools have been ordered open, but fear has kept both students and teachers away.

Women have demonstrated peacefully, some even having conversations about their rights with Taliban leaders. But some have been dispersed by Taliban special forces firing in the air.

Among the promises the Taliban have made is that once the country's airports are up and running, Afghans with passports and visas would be allowed to travel. More than 100 countries issued a statement saying they would be watching to see that the new rulers held to their commitment.

Technical teams from Qatar and Turkey arrived in recent days and are working to get the civilian airport operational.

On Saturday, state-run Ariana Airlines made its first domestic flights, which continued on Sunday. The airport is without radar facilities, so flights are restricted to daylight hours to allow for visual landing, said official Shershah Stor.

Several countries have also been bringing in humanitarian supplies. The Gulf state of Qatar, where the Taliban maintained a political office since 2013, is making daily flights into Kabul, delivering humanitarian aid for the war-weary nation. Bahrain also announced humanitarian assistance deliveries.

Meanwhile, the Taliban stepped up an assault on the last remaining pocket of resistance being led by fighters opposed to their rule.

The anti-Taliban fighters in Panjshir province, north of the Afghan capital, are being led by former vice president Amrullah Saleh, who has appealed for humanitarian aid to help the thousands of people displaced by the fighting.

A senior Taliban spokesman tweeted Sunday that Taliban troops had overrun Rokha district, one of the largest of eight districts in Panjshir. Several Taliban delegations have attempted negotiations with the holdouts there, but talks have failed to gain traction.

Fahim Dashti, the spokesman for the group that is fighting the Taliban, was killed in a battle on Sunday, according to the group's Twitter account. Dashti was the voice of the group and a prominent media personality during previous governments.

He was also the nephew of Abdullah Abdullah, a senior official of the former government who is involved in negotiations with the Taliban on the future of Afghanistan.

Saleh fled to Panjshir after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani quit Afghanistan as the Taliban marched on the capital. The fighters' lightning blitz across the country took less than a week to overrun some 300,000 government troops, most of whom surrendered or fled.

WASHINGTON —

As the final five U.S. military transport aircraft lifted off out of Afghanistan Monday, they left behind up to 200 Americans and thousands of desperate Afghans who couldn't get out and now must rely on the Taliban to allow their departure.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. will continue to try to get Americans and Afghans out of the country and will work with Afghanistan's neighbors to secure their departure either over land or by charter flight once the Kabul airport reopens.

"We have no illusion that any of this will be easy, or rapid," said Blinken, adding that the total number of Americans who are in Afghanistan and still want to leave may be closer to 100.

Speaking shortly after the Pentagon announced the completion of the U.S. military pullout Monday, Blinken said the U.S. Embassy in Kabul will remain shuttered and vacant for the foreseeable future. American diplomats, he said, will be based in Doha, Qatar.

"We will continue our relentless efforts to help Americans, foreign nationals and Afghans leave Afghanistan if they choose," Blinken said in an address from the State Department. "Our commitment to them holds no deadline."

Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command, told reporters the U.S. military was able to get as many as 1,500 Afghans out in the final hours of the American evacuation mission. But now it will be up to the State Department working with the Taliban to get any more people out.

McKenzie said there were no citizens left stranded at the airport and none were on the final few military flights out. He said the U.S. military maintained the ability to get Americans out right up until just before the end, but "none of them made it to the airport."

"There's a lot of heartbreak associated with this departure," said McKenzie. "We did not get everybody out that we wanted to get out. But I think if we'd stayed another 10 days we wouldn't have gotten everybody out that we wanted to get out."

McKenzie and other officials painted a vivid picture of the final hours U.S. troops were on the ground, and the preparations they took to ensure that the Taliban and Islamic State group militants did not get functioning U.S. military weapons systems and other equipment.

The terror threat remains a major problem in Afghanistan, with at least 2,000 "hard core" members of the Islamic State group who remain in the country, including many released from prisons as the Taliban swept to control.

Underscoring the ongoing security threats, the weapon systems used just hours earlier to counter IS rockets launched toward the airport were kept operational until "the very last minute" as the final U.S. military aircraft flew out, officials said. One of the last things U.S. troops did was to make the so-called C-RAMS (Counter Rocket, Artillery and Mortar System) inoperable.

McKenzie said they "demilitarized" the system so it can never be used again. Officials said troops did not blow up equipment in order to ensure they left the airport workable for future flights, once those begin again. In addition, McKenzie said the U.S. also disabled 27 Humvees and 73 aircraft so they can never be used again.

Throughout the day, as the final C-17 transport planes prepared to take off, McKenzie said the U.S. kept "overwhelming U.S. airpower overhead" to deal with potential IS threats.

Back at the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, watched the final 90 minutes of the military departure in real time from an operations center in the basement.

According to a U.S. official, they sat in hushed silence as they watched troops make last-minute runway checks, make the key defense systems inoperable and climb aboard the C-17s. The official said you could hear a pin drop as the last aircraft lifted off, and leaders around the room breathed sighs of relief. Later, Austin phoned Maj. Gen. Christopher Donahue, commander of the 82nd Airborne Division, who was coordinating the evacuation. Donahue and acting U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan Ross Wilson were the last to board the final plane that left Kabul.

Officials spoke on condition of anonymity to provide details of military operations.

"Simply because we have left, that doesn't mean the opportunities for both Americans that are in Afghanistan that want to leave and Afghans who want to leave, they will not be denied that opportunity," McKenzie said.

The military left some equipment for the Taliban in order to run the airport, including two firetrucks, some front-end loaders and aircraft staircases.

Blinken said the U.S. will work with Turkey and Qatar to help them get the Kabul airport up and running again.

"This would enable a small number of daily charter flights, which is a key for anyone who wants to depart from Afghanistan moving forward," he said.

A week before she was killed, Sgt. Nicole Gee cradled a baby in her arms at the Kabul airport. She posted the photo on Instagram and wrote, “I love my job.”

Gee, 23, of Sacramento, California, was a maintenance technician with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit from Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.

Brig. Gen. Forrest C. Poole III, commanding general of 2nd Marine Logistics Group, said his unit mourned “the immense loss of Sgt. Gee,” and the others.

Sgt. Mallory Harrison, who lived with Gee for three years, wrote about how hard the death hit her.

“I can’t quite describe the feeling I get when I force myself to come back to reality & think about how I’m never going to see her again,” Harrison wrote on Facebook. “How her last breath was taken doing what she loved — helping people. … Then there was an explosion. And just like that, she’s gone.”

Gee’s Instagram page shows another photo of her in fatigues, holding a rifle next to a line of people walking into the belly of a large transport plane. She wrote: “escorting evacuees onto the bird.”

Photos show her on a camel in Saudi Arabia, in a bikini on a Greek isle and holding a beer in Spain. One from this month in Kuwait shows her beaming with her meritorious promotion to sergeant.

Harrison said her generation of Marines hears war stories from veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts, but they seem distant until “the peaceful float you were on turns into … your friends never coming home.”

Gee’s car was still parked in a lot at Camp Lejeune, and Harrison mused about all the Marines who walked past it while she was overseas.

“Some of them knew her. Some of them didn’t.” she said. “They all walked past it. The war stories, the losses, the flag-draped coffins, the KIA bracelets & the heartbreak. It’s not so distant anymore.”

A young husband with a child on the way. Another man who always wanted to be in the military. A man who planned to become a sheriff's deputy when his deployment ended.

Heartwrenching details began emerging Friday about some of the 13 U.S. troops killed in a horrific suicide bombing at Afghanistan's Kabul airport, which also claimed the lives of more than 100 Afghans.

Eleven Marines, one Navy sailor and one Army soldier were among the dead, while 18 other U.S. service members were wounded in Thursday's bombing, which was blamed on Afghanistan's offshoot of the Islamic State group. The U.S. said it was the most lethal day for American forces in Afghanistan since 2011. The White House said President Joe Biden will look for opportunities to honor the service members who lost their lives, many of whom were men in their early 20s.

Here are details about some of the victims:

Rylee McCollum, 20

Rylee McCollum, a Marine and native of Bondurant, Wyoming, was married and his wife is expecting a baby in three weeks, his sister, Cheyenne McCollum, said.

"He was so excited to be a dad, and he was going to be a great dad," McColllum said. She said her brother "was a Marine before he knew he was allowed to be a Marine ... He'd carry around his toy rifle and wear his sister's pink princess snow boots and he'd either be hunting or he was a Marine. Sometimes it would be with nothing on underneath, just a T-shirt."

McColllum said her brother wanted to be a history teacher and a wrestling coach once he completed his service. Another sister, Roice McColllum, told the Casper Star Tribune that her brother was on his first deployment when the evacuation in Afghanistan began.

"We want to make sure that people know that these are the kids that are sacrificing themselves, and he's got a family who loves him and a wife who loves him and a baby that he'll never get to meet," Cheyenne McCollum said.

Regi Stone, the father of one of Rylee McCollum's friends, described McCollum as "a good kid," who was resilient, smart and courageous. Stone shared a note that his wife, Kim, sent to their son Eli Stone, who is also in the military and deployed elsewhere. In the note, Kim wrote that she remembered telling the friends to run the other way if they had to go in first and that both of them said, "If we die doing this, we die doing what we love."

Jared Schmitz, 20

Marine Lance Corporal Jared Schmitz grew up in the St. Louis area and was among a group of Marines sent back to Afghanistan to assist with evacuation efforts, his father, Mark Schmitz, told KMOX Radio.

Mark Schmitz said his son always wanted to be a Marine. He said he learned of his son's death when the Marines came to his home in Wentzville, Missouri, at 2:40 a.m. Friday.

"This was something he always wanted to do, and I never seen a young man train as hard as he did to be the best soldier he could be," Schmitz said of his son. "His life meant so much more. I'm so incredibly devastated that I won't be able to see the man that he was very quickly growing into becoming."

Taylor Hoover, 31

Staff Sgt. Taylor Hoover, of Utah, had been in the Marines for 11 years and was remembered as a hero who died serving others, his father Darin Hoover said.

Darin Hoover found out his son had died in the blast on Thursday night when Marine staff sergeants who came to his house in a suburb of Salt Lake City.

"He is a hero. He gave his life protecting those that can't protect themselves, doing what he loved serving his country," Darin Hoover said.

He said he heard from Marines throughout the day Friday who served with his son who said they are grateful they had him as their sergeant.

"They look back on him and say that they've learned so much from him," Darin Hoover said. "One heck of a leader."

His father said his son was also a best friend to his two sisters and loved all his extended family. He had a girlfriend in California.

A high school football player who graduated from Hillcrest High School in Midvale, Utah, in 2008, Taylor Hoover was the kind of guy who "lit up a room" when he came in.

"He was the most-loving, giving, understanding person you could ever meet," Darin Hoover said.

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox was among officials who offered their sympathies to Hoover's family. He said flags will be flown at half-staff at all state facilities and public grounds until Aug. 30 to honor all those killed in Afghanistan. "We honor his tremendous bravery and commitment to his country, even as we condemn the senseless violence that resulted in his death," Cox said.

Deagan William-Tyeler Page, 23

Corporal Daegan William-Tyeler Page served in the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment based at Camp Pendleton, California, and planned to go to trade school and possibly become a lineman after his enlistment ended, his family said in a statement.

Page was raised in Red Oak, Iowa, and in the Omaha metro area and joined the Marines after graduating from Millard South High School. He is mourned by his girlfriend, parents, stepmom and stepdad, four siblings and grandparents, the family said in a statement released by a family friend. The statement said the family did not wish to speak to the media at this time.

"Daegan will always be remembered for his tough outer shell and giant heart," the statement said. "Our hearts are broken, but we are thankful for the friends and family who are surrounding us during this time. Our thoughts and prayers are also with the other Marine and Navy families whose loved ones died alongside Daegan."

U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, a Republican from Nebraska, said in a statement that he was heartbroken to learn of Page's death. "Corporal Page is an American hero who gave the last full measure of devotion. He served his country honorably, and his service will never be in vain."

Ryan Knauss, 23

Ryan Knauss was remembered as a motivated man who loved his country and was looking forward to coming back to the U.S. and eventually moving to Washington, D.C., family members told WATE-TV in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Knauss' grandfather, Wayne Knauss, told the television station that the family received word of Knauss's death on Friday, and funeral services were being planned. Knauss said his grandson attended Gibbs High School and grew up in a Christian home.

"A motivated young man who loved his country," Wayne Knauss said. "He was a believer, so we will see him again in God's heaven."

Stepmother Linnae Knauss said Ryan planned to move to Washington, D.C., after he returned to the U.S.

"He was a super-smart hilarious young man," she said.

Herman Lopez, 22

Herman Lopez, whose parents work at the Riverside County Sheriff's Department in Southern California, was a sheriff's Explorer for three years before joining the Marine Corps in September 2017, said Sheriff Chad Bianco.

Bianco said Lopez planned to follow in his parents' footsteps and become a Riverside County Sheriff's Deputy after his deployment.

Kareem Mae'Lee Grant Nikoui

The Southern California city of Norco confirmed the death of Lance Corporal Kareem Mae'Lee Grant Nikoui. The city said Friday in a post on social media that Nikoui is survived by his parents and siblings, and his name will be enshrined on a memorial wall in the city.

Norco Mayor Kevin Bash said he learned of Nikoui's death Friday morning from a family member.

"He was a good kid, very quiet," said Bash, adding that "his goal in life was to be in the service."

The Norco High School Air Force JROTC posted on Facebook that Nikoui was "one of our best Air Force JROTC cadets" and that "Kareem was set on being a Marine & always wanted to serve his country."

David Lee Espinoza, 20

The death of Lance Corporal David Lee Espinoza, a Marine from Laredo, Texas, was confirmed by U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar.

The congressman's press secretary, Dana Youngentob, said Pentagon representatives visited Cuellar's Washington office to inform him of Espinoza's death. Cuellar's office also received an official death notice from the Pentagon.

In a statement, Cuellar said Espinoza "embodied the values of America: grit, dedication, service, and valor. When he joined the military after high school, he did so with the intention of protecting our nation and demonstrating his selfless acts of service."

Cuellar concluded, "The brave never die. Mr. Espinoza is a hero."

Max Soviak

A Navy hospital corpsman from Ohio was among those killed in a suicide attack at the Kabul airport Thursday.

Max Soviak was a 2017 graduate from Edison High School in northeast Ohio.

He was often deployed alongside Marines.

"One Sailor was killed during the August 26 attack at the Abbey gate of Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul. We mourn the loss of this Sailor and we offer our deepest condolences to the loved ones of our fallen shipmate," a statement from the U.S. Navy said.

WASHINGTON —

Video above from earlier this week: Biden sticks to Aug. 31 evacuation deadline

President Joe Biden is pressing ahead with the evacuation of Americans and others from Afghanistan after an attack that killed at least 12 U.S. service members and dashed hopes of ending the 20-year U.S. war without further bloodshed.

Calling off the evacuation immediately would mean leaving behind hundreds of Americans still trying to get out of the Taliban-controlled country.

Biden was briefed on the attacks, which also killed dozens of Afghans and came 12 days into the rushed evacuation and five days before its scheduled completion. Some Republicans argued to extend the evacuation beyond next Tuesday's deadline.

The U.S. general overseeing the evacuation, Gen. Frank McKenzie, said after the attacks, "If we can find who is associated with this, we will go after them." He said it would be a mistake for the United States to call an early end to the evacuation, despite the risks.

The administration has been widely blamed for a chaotic and deadly evacuation that began in earnest only after the collapse of the U.S.-based Afghan government and the Taliban's takeover of the country. More than 100,000 people have been evacuated so far.

Thursday's attacks were sure to intensify political pressure from all sides on Biden, who already was under heavy criticism for not beginning the pullout earlier. He had announced in April that he was ending the U.S. war and would have all forces out by September.

House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy of California called for Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to bring the chamber back into session to consider legislation that would prohibit the U.S. withdrawal until all Americans are out. That's highly unlikely, and Pelosi's office dismissed such suggestions as "empty stunts."

At the Pentagon, Gen McKenzie said the military believes the attacks on the airport's perimeter were carried out by fighters affiliated with the Islamic State group's Afghanistan arm. He said more attempted attacks were expected.

After the suicide bomber's attack at the airport's Abbey Gate, a number of ISIS gunmen opened fire on civilians and military forces, he said. There also was an attack at or near the Baron Hotel near that gate, he said.

The attacks won't drive the U.S. out earlier than scheduled, he said.

"Let me be clear, while we are saddened by the loss of life, both U.S. and Afghan, we are continuing to execute the mission," he said. He said there were about 5,000 evacuees on the airfield Thursday awaiting flights. He said the Taliban have been "useful to work with" and are not suspected in the attacks.

"We thought this would happen sooner or later," McKenzie said, adding that U.S. military commanders were working with Taliban commanders to prevent further attacks.

McKenzie said that in addition to the 12 U.S. service members killed in the attacks, at least 15 were injured.

As details of the attacks emerged, the White House rescheduled Biden's first in-person meeting with Israel's new prime minister and canceled a video conference with governors about Afghan refugees arriving in the United States.

Biden had pledged to get out of Afghanistan every American who wished to leave. As of Wednesday, the State Department said about 4,500 American citizens had been flown out, with about 1,500 yet to go.

Biden on Thursday was to host Israeli leader Naftali Bennett, who is on his first visit to the United States since taking office. The meeting was rescheduled for Friday. Biden also had planned to meet virtually with a bipartisan group of governors who have said they want to help resettle Afghan refugees fleeing their now Taliban-ruled country. A regular briefing by government health and medical experts also was postponed.

The deadly developments in the Afghan capital of Kabul forced the White House to tear up Biden's schedule. He was monitoring the airport situation, which was prompted by the upcoming Tuesday deadline he set for removing American citizens and troops from Afghanistan.

A number of U.S. allies said they were ending their evacuation efforts in Kabul, at least in part to give the U.S. the time it needs to wrap up its evacuation operations before getting more than 5,000 U.S. troops out by Tuesday.

Despite intense pressure to extend the Tuesday deadline, Biden has repeatedly cited the threat of terrorist attacks against civilians and U.S. service members as a reason to keep to his plan.

The explosions detonated as the U.S. worked to get remaining Americans out of the country. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that as many as 1,500 Americans may be awaiting evacuation.

Asked during an interview with ABC News about reports the evacuation could end on Friday, Ross Wilson, the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, declined to comment. He spoke shortly before the deadly attacks.

Wilson said "there are safe ways to get to" the airport for those Americans who still want to leave. He added that "there undoubtedly will be" some at-risk Afghans who will not get out before Biden's deadline.

The airlift continued Thursday despite warnings of vehicle-borne bomb threats near the airport. The White House said 13,400 people had been evacuated in the 24 hours that ended early Thursday morning Washington time. Those included 5,100 people aboard U.S. military planes and 8,300 on coalition and partner aircraft. That was a substantial drop from the 19,000 airlifted by all means the day before.

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Associated Press writers Lolita C. Baldor in Washington and James LaPorta in Boca Raton, Florida, contributed to this report.

A baby girl born on a U.S. military evacuation flight en route to Ramstein Air Base in Germany on Saturday has been named Reach after the call sign of the aircraft, according to the top U.S. general in Europe."We've had further conversations with the mom and the dad of the baby," said Gen. Tod Wolters, commander of the U.S. European Command and NATO's Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, at a briefing with reporters at the Pentagon. "They named the little girl Reach. And they did so because the call sign of the C-17 aircraft that flew them from Qatar to Ramstein was Reach."Reach's parents were on a flight from a staging base in Qatar after fleeing from Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover of Kabul.U.S. Air Mobility Command tweeted out the details of the delivery on Sunday, saying the mother had gone into labor and "began having complications" before the flight landed."The aircraft commander decided to descend in altitude to increase air pressure in the aircraft, which helped stabilize and save the mother's life," said a tweet from the U.S. Air Mobility Command's official account, noting that medical personnel from the Air Force's 86th Medical Group came aboard to deliver the baby once the plane landed."Upon landing, Airmen from the 86th MDG came aboard and delivered the child in the cargo bay of the aircraft," said another tweet from the account.Reach and her mother were transported to a nearby medical facility where Air Mobility Command reported they were in good condition."As you can well imagine, being an Air Force fighter pilot, it's my dream to watch that young child called Reach grow up and be a U.S. citizen and fly United States Air Force fighters in our Air Force," joked Wolters.Speaking to CNN on Monday, the nurse who delivered Reach said she was "expecting the worst, hoping for the best.""When I evaluated the patient, we were past the point of no return. That baby was going to be delivered before we could possibly transfer her to another facility," said U.S. Army Captain Erin Brymer, a Landstuhl Regional Medical Center registered nurse.Asked when she realized things would be okay for the baby and mother, Brymer said, "When the baby came out screaming! And we were able to put her directly on the mom's chest and get her breastfeeding right away. I was like, 'OK, we're good here.'"The pilot mistakenly announced that the baby was a boy, and Brymer said she corrected him. "I mean, it's a girl," the pilot then said.The Pentagon on Wednesday announced that approximately 88,000 evacuees have left Afghanistan since the evacuation started, but thousands more are still trying to get out of the country before the scheduled withdrawal of troops completes next week.

President Joe Biden was facing growing pressure from top U.S. allies Tuesday to extend a deadline for exiting Afghanistan in one week, as foreign evacuation missions ramp up against the backdrop of harrowing reports of Taliban executions.

Leaders of the Group of 7 will meet in a virtual gathering on Tuesday, the first such international forum since the crisis in Afghanistan unfolded. With the Aug. 31 deadline for U.S. troops to withdraw from Afghanistan fast approaching, America's allies are expected to press Biden to extend the military deployment.

Biden has so far not publicly committed to such a move, worrying some allies who fear there won't be enough time to get their citizens, along with Afghan allies who assisted in the war effort, out of the country by the end of the month.

The U.S. evacuated a record 12,700 people from Kabul airport between Monday and Tuesday morning, according to a White House official, and another 8,900 people were evacuated by 57 coalition flights. The U.S. has now evacuated some 58,700 people from Afghanistan since Aug. 14.

The U.S. military has advised Biden that he must decide by Tuesday whether to extend the evacuation beyond Aug. 31, according to a defense official directly familiar with the discussions, though Biden has yet to make a decision.

Speaking ahead of the G7 meeting Tuesday, U.K. Defense Secretary Ben Wallace told Sky News he thought it was "unlikely" Biden would extend the deadline date, though he added "it is definitely worth a try, and we will."

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Monday that more time was needed. "We are concerned about the deadline set by the United States on Aug. 31. Additional time is needed to complete ongoing operations," he told AFP.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas advocated for negotiating with the Taliban on the deadline. "As bitter as it is, we need to talk to the Taliban," Maas said in a tweet. "The alternative would be to abandon these people. And we are not willing to do that."

But the Taliban has described Aug. 31 as a "red line" and threatened consequences if the White House moves to delay the U.S. withdrawal.

"It's a red line. President Biden announced that on 31 August they would withdraw all their military forces. So if they extend it that means they are extending occupation while there is no need for that," spokesman Sohail Shaheen told Sky News. "If the U.S. or U.K. were to seek additional time to continue evacuations — the answer is no. Or there would be consequences. It will create mistrust between us. If they are intent on continuing the occupation it will provoke a reaction."

U.S. military advisers have told the White House that the decision must be made by Tuesday in order to have enough time to withdraw the 5,800 troops currently on the ground, as well as their equipment and weapons. If the president sticks to the Aug. 31 deadline, the military anticipates "a few more days" of trying to evacuate as many people as possible before the drawdown of U.S. forces begins, possibly at the end of this week.

Several of Biden's advisers have advised against an extension, citing the security situation on the ground, CNN has learned.

US evacuates record number from airport

The number of evacuees in and around Kabul airport swelled to around 20,000 over the weekend. But the pace of airlifts has sharply picked up in recent days, and as of Tuesday afternoon there were 4,671 people awaiting flights, Lieutenant Colonel Brett Lea told CNN.

The vast majority of those still trying to get out of Kabul were Afghans, the source said, adding that applicants for the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program — an avenue for Afghans who worked for United States forces and agencies to get out of the country — are now permitted onto the airport.

SIV applicants were told not to come to the airport on Monday as the U.S. tried to clear backlogs of evacuees and ensure U.S. passport and green card holders got on aircraft out of Kabul before the Aug. 31 deadline to complete evacuations.

But solid estimates of the number of people both on and leaving the airport were hard to determine.

The Pentagon said early Tuesday that 17 U.S. military and partner nation aircraft evacuated approximately 16,000 people from Harmid Karzai International Airport within the previous 24 hours, with the U.S. Air Force transporting just under 11,000 of them.

That gave an opening to expand the evacuation, the source said.

"The aperture has widened," they said. SIV holders plus immediate family and anyone who can "clearly and credibly articulate a clear and credible connection" with the U.S. government could now get out, the source said.

Despite that relaxation of restrictions, the gates to the airport remained closed, the source said.

"But the people who are already there or being pulled in individually, they're flexing a bit," they said.

About 300 U.S. citizens had been brought in overnight, and moves were coordinated with the Taliban, the source said. The closure of the airport's gates, however, significantly reduces the number of SIV applicants who can reach the base.

Afghan security forces continued to use unofficial means to get their colleagues and friends onto the base, the source said. "Not sure who the Afghans are still pulling in, but it seems to be a steady trickle," they said.

The source also said there had been no progress in the evacuation of locally employed embassy staff, although planning was underway.

While the backlog of evacuees was being whittled down in Kabul, strain was showing up elsewhere in the route that would eventually lead evacuees to resettlement outside Afghanistan.

One of the main waypoints for evacuees, the massive U.S. Ramstein Air Base in Germany, had reached its capacity of 7,800 evacuees on Monday.

Harrowing reports of executions

The frantic evacuation race comes against the backdrop of "harrowing and credible reports" of civilian executions and restrictions on women's rights under the Taliban in Afghanistan, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said Tuesday.

The reports included executions of civilians and members of the Afghan security forces, restrictions on girls' right to attend schools, recruitment of child soldiers, and repression of peaceful protest, Bachalet told the UN's Human Rights Council in Geneva.

"Many people now fear reprisals by the Taliban against those working with the government or the international community; people who have worked to advance human rights and justice; or those whose lifestyles and opinions are simply perceived to be opposed to the Taliban ideology," Bachalet said.

The reports of violence lie in stark contrast to Taliban assurances to international media since seizing Kabul over a week ago. Taliban leaders said they would not seek retribution against their political enemies and did not want women to be discriminated against, with their standing in society guaranteed "within the framework of Islamic sharia" law.

KABUL —

The U.S. military is establishing "alternative routes" to Kabul airport because of a threat the terror group ISIS-K poses to the airport and its surroundings, as President Joe Biden met with senior officials Saturday to discuss the security situation in Afghanistan and counter-terrorism operations against the Islamic State offshoot.

"There is a strong possibility ISIS-K is trying to carry off an attack at the airport," a U.S. defense official told CNN. A senior diplomat in Kabul said they are aware of a credible but not immediate threat by Islamic State against Americans at Hamid Karzai International Airport.

Two U.S. defense officials described the military effort to establish "alternative routes" for people to get to Kabul airport and its access gates, with one saying these new routes will be available to Americans, third party nationals and qualified Afghans.

The Taliban are aware of the new effort and are coordinating with the U.S., one of the officials said.

Possible threats

The Pentagon has been monitoring the situation around the airport, aware that the swelling crowds on the grounds and around the airfield create a target for ISIS-K and other organizations, which may use car bombs or suicide bombers to attack, the second official said. Mortar attacks are another possible threat.

Details of the plan are being closely held, but the broadly sketched-out details call for people to follow new routes and access points in coordination with Taliban on the ground in an attempt to help disperse the gathering of large crowds or avoid the crowds altogether, the two officials said. U.S. personnel would be in a position to observe the movement of people to ensure safety, but the official would not specify if that involves direct observation by nearby troops as well as the use of intelligence sensors.

"There's a whole canopy of security concerns we have," Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said at a press briefing Saturday, as he described the military "fighting against both time and space" in its effort to safely evacuate people.

"The idea is to get as many people out as fast as we can," Kirby said. "That's what the focus is. In trying to accomplish that mission, we're taking in a whole wealth of information about what the security environment looks like."

Biden and his national security team met in the Situation Room on Saturday morning to discuss "the security situation in Afghanistan and counterterrorism operations, including ISIS-K," the White House said. "They discussed the massive logistical operation to evacuate American citizens and their families, SIV applicants and their families, and vulnerable Afghans both on U.S. military aircraft, as well as flight charters and coalition flights."

ISIS-K is a self-proclaimed branch of the terror group that first emerged in Syria and Iraq. While the affiliates share an ideology and tactics, the depth of their relationship with regard to organization and command and control has never been entirely established.

US intelligence officials previously told CNN the ISIS-K membership includes "a small number of veteran jihadists from Syria and other foreign terrorist fighters," saying that the US had identified 10 to 15 of their top operatives in Afghanistan. The group's name comes from its terminology for the area that includes Afghanistan and Pakistan: "Khorasan."

Biden referred to the threat from Islamic State in an address to the nation on Friday, telling Americans that, "we're also keeping a close watch on any potential terrorist threat at or around the airport, including from the ISIS affiliates in Afghanistan who were released from prison when the prisons were emptied."

Biden noted that ISIS in Afghanistan has been the sworn enemy of the Taliban, with which U.S. officials have been coordinating and communicating on a constant basis over access to the airport.

"I've said all along," Biden added, "We're going to retain a laser-focus on our counterterrorism mission, working in close coordination with our allies and our partners and all those who have an interest in ensuring stability in the region."

'The best job they can'

According to an official familiar with the matter, Biden has pushed his team to ramp up flights and evacuations but accessing the airport has become difficult as crowds swarm the gates.

Not long before the President met to confer with Vice President Kamala Harris, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Joint Chiefs Chairman Mark Milley, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and others on Saturday, the U.S. embassy in Kabul sent a security alert saying that "because of potential security threats outside the gates at the Kabul airport, we are advising U.S. citizens to avoid traveling to the airport and to avoid airport gates at this time unless you receive individual instructions from a U.S. government representative to do so."

At the Pentagon, where an official told CNN on Saturday that evacuations had slowed in the past 24 hours, spokesman Kirby said the State Department is "doing the best job they can to advise Americans who still haven't made it to the airport, what the situation looks like around the airport, that would be the prudent thing to do."

"If you're an American and you're at a gate, you will be let in that gate," Kirby said Saturday.

But gates to the airport have been closed for "short durations" over the past 24 hours, Gen. Hank Taylor, deputy director of the Joint Staff for Regional Operations, told reporters during the Pentagon briefing with Kirby.

"There have been short durations throughout the last 24 hours where gates have been closed to allow the proper people to come in and out of those gates," Taylor said.

The President asserted on Friday that there's no indication American citizens have been prevented from getting through to the airport but acknowledged the risks involved with the evacuation mission, saying it "is dangerous, involves risks to Armed Forces, and has been conducted under difficult circumstances."

Biden stressed that he could not promise what the final outcome will be, or "that it will be without risk of loss." But he added that "as Commander in Chief, I can assure you that I will mobilize every resource necessary."

Speaking to reporters Saturday, Kirby did not rule out taking other measures to get Americans to Kabul airport, including having U.S. military troops go into the city and retrieve them, if necessary. On Friday, the Pentagon revealed it had used three CH-47 Chinook helicopters to retrieve 169 Americans who had gathered at a hotel about 200 meters from an airport gate, wary of the risks involved in trying to walk through the throngs outside amid reports of violence and Taliban beatings.

"We're going to continue to explore options to assist Americans as needed," Kirby said. "We will do that here at the Pentagon. If there's a need to do something different than what we're already doing to facilitate them getting into the airport ... we'll certainly consider those options."

'Fighting against both time and space'

But Kirby acknowledged the challenge the military is facing as it works towards an August 31 deadline to leave the country. Biden has indicated the U.S. may have to stay beyond that date if all Americans have not been evacuated yet.

"I think we've been very honest about the fact that we know that we're fighting against both time and space," Kirby said. "That's really what, that's the race that we're in right now, and we're trying to do this as quickly and as safely as possible."

The pace of the evacuation effort slowed after a bottleneck developed Friday as space at the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, one of the leading destinations for flights, neared capacity, forcing the US to scramble for other locations.

Only 6 C-17s have left Kabul international airport in the past 24 hours, carrying some 1,600 people, a defense official told CNN, a dramatic reduction in the pace of evacuations as a result of Friday's 8-hour delay in flights.

That figure was a stark drop from the 6,000 people who flew out of Kabul in the previous 24-hour period on 16 C-17 flights and a C-130, according to figures Taylor gave reporters during a Pentagon briefing on Friday.

On Saturday, Taylor told reporters that on military aircraft and charter planes combined, approximately 3,800 people were evacuated in the past 24 hours.

Since the end of July, 22,000 people have been evacuated, with 17,000 of them flown out over in the week since August 14, Taylor said. Out of the 17,000 evacuated since August 14, 2,500 are U.S. citizens, Taylor said.

C-17 military planes are now "moving between Qatar and Germany," Taylor said, and in the past 24 hours, three flights from Kabul landed at Dulles International Airport near Washington, DC. Some Afghans will be transitioned to Fort Bliss for further processing, Taylor added.

On Friday, U.S. officials announced a dramatic expansion in the number of countries that will help transit Americans or temporarily host Afghans, including Germany where the first evacuation flight of about 350 people arrived at Ramstein Air Base.

The United States is struggling to pick up the pace of American and Afghan evacuations at Kabul airport, constrained by obstacles ranging from armed Taliban checkpoints to paperwork problems. With an Aug. 31 deadline looming, tens of thousands remained to be airlifted from the chaotic country.

Taliban fighters and their checkpoints ringed the airport — major barriers for Afghans who fear that their past work with Westerners makes them prime targets for retribution. Hundreds of Afghans who lacked any papers or clearance for evacuation also congregated outside the airport, adding to the chaos that has prevented even some Afghans who do have papers and promises of flights from getting through.

It didn't help that many of the Taliban fighters could not read the documents.

In a hopeful sign, State Department spokesman Ned Price said in Washington that 6,000 people were cleared for evacuation Thursday and were expected to board military flights in coming hours. That would mark a major increase from recent days. About 2,000 passengers were flown out on each of the past two days, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said.

Kirby said the military has aircraft available to evacuate 5,000 to 9,000 people per day, but until Thursday far fewer designated evacuees had been able to reach, and then enter, the airport.

Kirby told reporters the limiting factor has been available evacuees, not aircraft. He said efforts were underway to speed processing, including adding State Department consular officers to verify paperwork of Americans and Afghans who managed to get to the airport. Additional entry gates had been opened, he said.

And yet, at the current rate it would be difficult for the U.S. to evacuate all of the Americans and Afghans who are qualified for and seeking evacuation by Aug. 31. President Joe Biden said Wednesday he would ensure no American was left behind, even if that meant staying beyond August, an arbitrary deadline that he set weeks before the Taliban climaxed a stunning military victory by taking Kabul last weekend. It was not clear if Biden might consider extending the deadline for evacuees who aren't American citizens. The president will deliver remarks on the evacuation Friday afternoon at the White House.

At the Kabul airport, military evacuation flights continued, but access remained difficult for many. On Thursday, Taliban militants fired into the air to try to control the crowds gathered at the airport's blast walls. Men, women and children fled. U.S. Navy fighter jets flew overhead, a standard military precaution but also a reminder to the Taliban that the U.S. has firepower to respond to a combat crisis.

There is no accurate figure of the number of people — Americans, Afghans or others — who are in need of evacuation as the process is almost entirely self-selecting. For example, the State Department says that when it ordered its nonessential embassy staff to leave Kabul in April after Biden's withdrawal announcement, fewer than 4,000 Americans had registered for security updates. The actual number, including dual U.S.-Afghan citizens along with family members, is likely much higher, with estimates ranging from 11,000 to 15,000. Tens of thousands of Afghans may also be in need of escape.

Compounding the uncertainty, the U.S. government has no way to track how many registered Americans may have left Afghanistan already. Some may have returned to the United States but others may have gone to third countries.

At the Pentagon, Kirby declined to say whether Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had recommended to Biden that he extend the Aug. 31 deadline. Given the Taliban's takeover of the country, staying beyond that date would require at least the Taliban's acquiescence, he said. He said he knew of no such talks yet between U.S. and Taliban commanders, who have been in regular touch for days to limit conflict at the airport as part of what the White House has termed a "safe passage" agreement worked out on Sunday.

"I think it is just a fundamental fact of the reality of where we are, that communications and a certain measure of agreement with the Taliban on what we're trying to accomplish has to occur," Kirby said.

Of the approximately 2,000 people airlifted from the airport in the 24 hours ended Wednesday morning, nearly 300 were Americans, Kirby said. U.S. lawmakers were briefed Thursday morning that 6,741 people had been evacuated since Aug. 14, including 1,762 American citizens and Green Card holders, according to two congressional aides.

Although Afghanistan had been a hotspot for the coronavirus pandemic, the State Department said Thursday that evacuees are not required to get negative COVID-19 results.

"A blanket humanitarian waiver has been implemented for COVID-19 testing for all persons the U.S. government is relocating from Afghanistan," the department said. Medical exams, including COVID-19 tests, had been required for evacuees prior to the Taliban's takeover of Kabul, which added extra urgency to efforts to get at-risk Afghans out.

Additional American troops continued to arrive at the airport. As of Thursday there were about 5,200, including Marines who specialize in evacuation coordination and an Air Force unit that specializes in emergency airport operations. Biden has authorized a total deployment of about 6,000.

Hoping to secure evacuation seats are American citizens and other foreigners, Afghan allies of the Western forces, and women, journalists, activists and others most at risk from the fundamentalist Taliban.

In June, more than 20 diplomats at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul registered their concerns that the evacuation of Afghans who had worked for America was not proceeding quickly enough.

In a cable sent through the State Department's dissent channel, a time-honored method for foreign service officers to register opposition to administration policies, the diplomats said the situation on the ground was dire, that the Taliban would likely seize control of the capital within months of the Aug. 31 pullout, and urged the administration to immediately begin a concerted evacuation effort, according to officials familiar with the document.

Will U.S. troops go beyond the airport perimeter to collect and escort people? Austin suggested on Wednesday that this was not currently feasible. "We don't have the capability to go out and collect large numbers of people," he told reporters.

Austin added that evacuations would continue "until the clock runs out or we run out of capability."

Afghans in danger because of their work with the U.S. military or U.S. organizations, and Americans scrambling to get them out, also pleaded with Washington to cut the red tape that has complicated matters.

"If we don't sort this out, we'll literally be condemning people to death," said Marina Kielpinski LeGree, the American head of a nonprofit, Ascend. The organization's young Afghan female colleagues were in the mass of people waiting for flights at the airport in the wake of days of mayhem, tear gas and gunshots.

"The situation right now is very dire," Patricia Gossman, associate Asia director for the Human Rights Watch, said.

As the Taliban take control of Afghanistan, women and girls are beginning to live under the return of a very dark reality. 

"The Taliban ruled over Afghanistan for five years until 2001, and they harbored al-Qaeda. Their rule was ghastly, and it was harsh, and there are many concerns that the rights of women over the past 20 years could be rolled back in an instant," Aya Batrawy, Gulf correspondent for the Associated Press, said.

Across the country, observers report the Taliban has already become violent against women and girls for not obeying Islamic extremism rules that reject western influence.  

Nilofar is a displaced teacher from the Takhar province. She says the Taliban recently lashed girls from her school for their choice of footwear, sandals, that were too revealing. 

"They are already also seeking out people that were associated with the current government. We are aware of a number of executions of people have been taken into Taliban custody," Gossman said.

As reports surface of girls being told not to attend school, the Taliban says education will be allowed, so long as "Islamic Sharia laws are not neglected."

"When we consider women and girls, all those who've had their lives advanced, this is searing. It is hard stuff," Secretary of State Antony Blinken told ABC News.

Some women are even being told to stay home and give their jobs to male relatives. 

"I am worried about the women who are vocal, but more importantly, I’m more worried about the girls who cannot talk, who don't have a platform, who cannot represent themselves," Pashtana Dorani, executive director of LEARN, said.

And this may be the beginning.

Meg Hilling at Newsy first reported this story.

The Pentagon says flights have resumed from an airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, a day after video footage showed hundreds of Afghans rushing the runway in an attempt to board U.S. planes and leave the country.

In multiple media appearances Tuesday morning, Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said that flights have resumed, and the Defense Department is working to move both Americans and Afghans out of the country.

"The airport is up and running; operations are continuing," Kirby told ABC News.

Kirby noted that the U.S. moved between 700 and 800 people out of Afghanistan in the last 24 hours, including 150 American citizens and many Afghan citizens. During that same period, an additional 1,000 American troops arrived in Kabul, with more to come in the days ahead.

During a press briefing on Monday, joint staff director of current operations Army Maj. Gen. Hank Taylor said that the Department of Defense's focus remained on protecting the airport. By his estimation, the military could evacuate between 5,000 and 9,000 people from the country each day.

During Monday's briefing, Kirby also reiterated that the evacuation mission would end, at the White House's direction, on Aug. 31. That means as many as 135,000 people could be flown out of the country in the next two weeks.

It's unclear how many U.S. citizens, Afghani special immigrant visas and third-party foreign nationals still need to be evacuated.

Flights were suspended from the airport on Monday after hundreds of people rushed to the airport in an attempt to flee the country from Taliban rule. The stunning footage showed crowds of people abandoning their cars on local highways, jumping fences and running right onto the tarmac.

An additional video showed people running beside a U.S. Air Force plane as it prepared to take off. Some clung to the aircraft's fuselage as it lifted into the air.

The Associated Press reported Monday that seven people died in the chaos at the airport.

Amid the disarray, the State Department advised Americans in the area to shelter in place. On Monday, Kirby told media outlets that the Department had reached a message to those sheltering and had "given them cues" as to how to assemble at the airport for evacuation.

Kirby added that the Pentagon is planning to house up to 22,000 Afghan citizens at three U.S. installations once they are evacuated from the country, many of them translators or those who have assisted American troops over the years.

"It's not just about moving out Americans; it's very much about meeting our moral and sacred obligations to those Afghans who helped us over the last 20 years, getting as many of them out as we can," Kirby said.

During the White House press briefing on Tuesday, national security adviser Jake Sullivan again defended the Biden administration's continued troop drawdown. While he admitted there were "chaotic scenes" at the airport on Monday, he said the Pentagon had made appropriate adjustments to keep the area secured in the hopes of transporting as many people out of the country as possible in the coming days.

"The images at the airport the past couple of days have been heartbreaking. But President Biden had to think of the alternative path as well, which was to stay in the middle of a civil conflict in Afghanistan," Sullivan said. "There are those who argue that with 2,500 forces, the number of forces in Afghanistan when President Biden took office, we could have sustained a peaceful Afghanistan. That is simply wrong."

Psaki later said that Biden continues to have faith in his intelligence advisers and that he and the intelligence agencies remain in "lockstep."

WASHINGTON —

President Joe Biden is addressing the nation on Monday about the U.S. evacuation from Afghanistan, after the planned withdrawal of American forces turned deadly at Kabul’s airport as thousands tried to flee the country after the Taliban’s takeover.

Biden returned to the White House Monday afternoon from the Camp David presidential retreat ahead of his planned speech at 3:45 p.m. from the East Room. It will be his first public remarks on the Afghanistan situation in nearly a week. Biden and other top U.S. officials had been stunned by the pace of the Taliban’s swift routing of the Afghan military.

Senior U.S. military officials say the chaos at the airport left seven people dead Monday, including some who fell from a departing American military transport jet. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss ongoing operations.

Afghans rushed onto the tarmac of the capital’s airport as thousands tried to escape after the Taliban seized power. Some clung to the side of a U.S. military plane before takeoff, in a widely shared video that captured the desperation as America’s 20-year war comes to a chaotic end.

Another video showed the Afghans falling as the plane gained altitude over Kabul. U.S. troops resorted to firing warning shots and using helicopters to clear a path for transport aircraft.

The Pentagon confirmed Monday that U.S. forces shot and killed two individuals it said were armed, as Biden ordered another battalion of troops — about 1,000 troops — to secure the airfield, which was closed to arrivals and departures for hours Monday because of civilians on the runway.

The speed of the Afghan government’s collapse and the ensuing chaos posed the most serious test of Biden as commander in chief, and he came under withering criticism from Republicans who said that he had failed.

Biden campaigned as a seasoned expert in international relations and has spent months downplaying the prospect of an ascendant Taliban while arguing that Americans of all political persuasions have tired of a 20-year war, a conflict that demonstrated the limits of money and military might to force a Western-style democracy on a society not ready or willing to embrace it.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan said Monday that the "speed with which cities fell was much greater than anyone anticipated." He blamed the government’s fall on the Afghans themselves, telling NBC's "Today" show that the U.S. ultimately could not give Afghan security forces the "will" to fight to defend their fledgling democracy.

"Despite the fact that we spent 20 years and tens of billions of dollars to give the best equipment, the best training and the best capacity to the Afghan security forces, we could not give them the will and they ultimately decided that they would not fight for Kabul and they would not fight for the country," Sullivan said.

The turmoil in Afghanistan resets the focus in an unwelcome way for a president who has largely focused on a domestic agenda that includes emerging from the pandemic, winning congressional approval for trillions of dollars in infrastructure spending and protecting voting rights.

Biden remained at Camp David over the weekend, receiving regular briefings on Afghanistan and holding secure video conference calls with members of his national security team, according to senior White House officials. His administration released a single photo of the president on Sunday alone in a conference room meeting virtually with military, diplomatic and intelligence experts.

He is the fourth U.S. president to confront challenges in Afghanistan and has insisted he wouldn’t hand America’s longest war to his successor. But he will likely have to explain how security in Afghanistan unraveled so quickly, especially since he and others in the administration have insisted it wouldn’t happen.

"The jury is still out, but the likelihood there’s going to be the Taliban overrunning everything and owning the whole country is highly unlikely," Biden said on July 8.

Just last week, though, administration officials warned privately that the military was crumbling, prompting Biden on Thursday to order thousands of American troops into the region to speed up evacuation plans.

Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump also yearned to leave Afghanistan, but ultimately stood down in the face of resistance from military leaders and other political concerns. Biden, on the other hand, has been steadfast in his refusal to change the Aug. 31 deadline, in part because of his belief that the American public is on his side.

A late July ABC News/Ipsos poll, for instance, showed 55% of Americans approving of Biden’s handling of the troop withdrawal.

Most Republicans have not pushed Biden to keep troops in Afghanistan over the long term and they also supported Trump’s own push to exit the country. Still, some in the GOP stepped up their critique of Biden’s withdrawal strategy and said images from Sunday of American helicopters circling the U.S. Embassy in Kabul evoked the humiliating departure of U.S. personnel from Vietnam.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell deemed the scenes of withdrawal as "the embarrassment of a superpower laid low."

Senior administration officials believe the U.S. will be able to maintain security at the Kabul airport long enough to extricate Americans and their allies, but the fate of those unable to get to the airport was far from certain.

In the upper ranks of Biden’s staff, the rapid collapse in Afghanistan only confirmed the decision to leave: If the meltdown of the Afghan forces would come so quickly after nearly two decades of American presence, another six months or a year or two or more would not have changed anything.

Biden has argued for more than a decade that Afghanistan was a kind of purgatory for the United States. He found it to be corrupt, addicted to America’s largesse and an unreliable partner that should be made to fend for itself. His goal was to protect Americans from terrorist attacks, not building a country.

In July he said he made the decision to withdraw with "clear eyes." His judgment was that Afghanistan would be divided in a peace agreement with the Taliban, rather than falling all at once.

"There’s going to be no circumstance where you see people being lifted off the roof of a embassy in the — of the United States from Afghanistan," he said in July. "The likelihood there’s going to be one unified government in Afghanistan controlling the whole country is highly unlikely."

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Associated Press writers Michael Balsamo, James LaPorta and Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.