Evacuation effort tapping 230 US planes: Afghanistan update

President Joe Biden is sticking to the deadline he set for evacuations from the Kabul airport, according to a senior administration official, leaving less than a week to fly out thousands of people from Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. The decision means Biden rebuffed calls from the US’s closest allies to extend the Aug. 31 deadline during a meeting of the Group of Seven leaders Tuesday. The virtual summit convened by UK PM Boris Johnson was likely the last chance to persuade the president to push back the date to complete the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan. Civilian evacuations at Kabul airport must now end within the next few days to allow enough time to get remaining US and other troops out. The fate of foreigners and Afghans whose ties to outside powers leave them vulnerable to reprisals dominated the buildup to the meeting. That point was underscored earlier in the day when Zabihullah Mujahed, a Taliban spokesman, told a press conference that “the Islamic Emirate is really trying to control the situation. The airport is now closed and Afghans are not allowed to go there now. Only foreigners are allowed to go.” The Pentagon has committed as much as one-third of its total mobility air forces fleet to Operation Allies Refuge -- more than 230 aircraft, including C-17 and C-5 transports, KC-10 and KC-135 tankers and a small number of newer KC-46 refuelers, according to Air Mobility Command figures. <br/>