Thursday, 19 August 2021 (YJC)_ Army Maj. Gen. William Taylor said US F-18 fighter jets flew over the Afghan capital of Kabul to ensure security.
US F-18 fighter jets flew over the Afghan capital of Kabul to ensure security around the airport area, Army Maj. Gen. William Taylor said on Thursday.
"As we look at the last 24 hours, F-18s from the Ronald Reagan carrier strike group flew armed over watched flights over Kabul to ensure enhanced security," Taylor said during a briefing.
Taylor added that the F-18 jets are flying continuously in support of the US efforts to evacuate Americans and allies from Afghanistan.
The United States has at the moment over 5,000 personnel in Kabul, Army Major General William Taylor said on Thursday.
“The US military footprint in Kabul is now more than 5,200 total troops in the ground,” Taylor said at a briefing.
Meanwhile, Defense Department spokesperson John Kirby denied that the deployment of F-18 jets is the first armed flight since the beginning of non-combatant evacuations in Afghanistan.
"Our mission in Afghanistan is now conducting a non-combatant evacuation in a safe way... Our main mission is airport security, help to get people out," Kirby said.
On Sunday, the Taliban completed their takeover of Afghanistan by entering Kabul. President Ashraf Ghani resigned and fled the country. Numerous countries chose to evacuate their citizens and diplomatic personnel from Afghanistan due to the precarious security situation.
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