Until we get all “, Biden says American troops can be in Afghanistan even after August 31st.

President Joe Biden said Wednesday that he is committed to keeping American troops in Afghanistan until any American is evacuated, even if it required a military presence there beyond the 31 August deadline.

The president also dismissed criticism that the United States should have done more to plan evacuation and withdrawal, which has been associated with scenes of violence and chaos, while thousands of people tried to leave while the Taliban took power.

In an interview with George Stephanopoulos of the ABC News Channel, President Biden said the United States will do “everything in their power” to evacuate American and American allies from Afghanistan before the deadline.

Asked repeatedly how the administration would help Americans who would remain in place after August 31st, President Biden said, “if they remained American citizens, we would stay until we bring out all”.

Up to 15,000 Americans are in Afghanistan after the Taliban took full control of the country last weekend.

Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said earlier Wednesday that the American Army has no force and fighting power in Afghanistan to expand its current mission beyond the security of Kabul airport to collect Americans and Afghans at risk elsewhere in the capital and to accompany them to evacuate.

The question of whether those seeking to leave the country before President Beden's deadline should be saved and brought to the airport has been raised amid reports that the Taliban checkpoints have banned several designated citizens.

“I don't have the ability to go out further and extend current operations outside Kabul,” said Secretary Austin.

Austin, a retired four-star army general who commanded forces in Afghanistan, spoke at his first press conference at the Pentagon since the Taliban came to power in Kabul on Sunday.

He said the State Department was sending more consular affairs officers to accelerate the processing of evacuation documents.

“We are not where we want to be” in terms of air transport rhythm, said Secretary Austin.

He said the operations were focused mainly on the airport, which faced “a number of threats” that must be monitored.

“We cannot fail to protect that airport or have a safe airfield, while we have hundreds or thousands of civilians who can enter the airport,” he said, adding that talks with the Taliban were continuing to secure safe passage for those who should be evacuated.

Secretary Austin said there were about 4,500 American troops at the airport, guarding security to enable the evacuation operation conducted by the State Department, which is marked by chaos and confusion.

President Beden, however, told the ABC network that there was nothing his administration could have done to avoid such chaos.

“Ide that there could be a way out without chaos, I don't know how otherwise this could have happened,” President Biden said.

Senior American military officers are talking to Taliban commanders in Kabul about checkpoints and police hours that have limited the number of Americans and Afghans capable of entering the airport.

John Kirby, the Pentagon's chief spokesman, said that during 24 hours about 2,000 people, including 325 American citizens, had fled aboard 18 U.S. Air Force C-17 aircraft flights. The number of Air Force flights is likely to be similar in the next 24 hours, Kirby said, although he added he could not assess how many people he could transport.

He said the administration was considering its options to deal with another problem of abandoning Afghan security forces from a series of military, arms and aircraft devices that have fallen into the hands of Taliban or other militant groups.

“We, of course, don't want to see our equipment in the hands of those who would act against our interests or the interests of the Afghan people and increase violence and uncertainty within Afghanistan,” said Kirby. “There are many policy choices that can be taken, including until their destruction”. He said these decisions have not been made yet.

Kirby said several hundred other American troops are expected to arrive at the airport by Thursday.

An Air Force unit specialising in the rapid establishment and maintenance of airport operations arrived overnight, Kirby said. He said the trained marines in supporting evacuation have continued to arrive and will help get civilians on flights.

Jake Sullivan, president Biden's national security adviser. On Tuesday, it accepted reports that some civilians were facing difficulties by returning or being beaten” while trying to get to Kabul airport.

The State Department said it was sending John Bass, a former ambassador to Afghanistan, to manage the evacuation operation in Kabul.

Army Major General Christopher Donohue, a special operations officer and current Air Division Commander 82, have arrived to take command of airport security operations.