i want to reenforce we re focused on the mission of this great national importance. the massive effort is the result of team work and the tireless commitment of u.s. military to supporting the u.s. government around the world. okay. bob. thank you. president biden in his remarks earlier today made a reference to having figure the word he used rescued 169 americans outside, beyond the perimeter. can you explain what that how that happened? what happened? he s referring to a small number of people that our troops were very close to the perimeter. the perimeter of the airport. very close. in a short amount of time, a
total troops on the ground. our mission to defend kabul airport and evacuate people from afghanistan as quickly and safely as possible continues. the airport remains secure. the evacuation flights are steadily increasing and we are doing everything we can to maximize safe evacuations. in the past 24 hours, 15 c-17s arrived with several hundred more troops that allowed us to get to that 5,800 number and also some supplies. as of 0300 eastern today and the previous 24 hours, 16 c-17s and one c-130 departed. these include a couple hundred american citizens. since august 14th as the president noted earlier today, we have air lifted approximately 13,000 total evacuees during the
airport, the president said this. no the best of our knowledge, the taliban check points are letting through people showing american passports. now, that s a different question when they get into the rush and crowd of all the folks just outside the wall near the airport. that s why we had, yesterday or the day before, we went over the wall and brought in, how many? 169 americans. sgr right now at kabul s airport, we re told some flights have resumed after no planes took off for ten hours. thousands of people there still stranded. soldiers on the runway told cnn that 10,000 people had their paper work processed and ready to go but they were stuck in the blistering sun after the country they were being evacuated to said they reached capacity and k could handle no more. the united arab emirates will
actually, despite what general austin and milley said yesterday, you are actually going out of the airport and picking up people. can you elaborate on that? i can t confirm those reports at this time. i feel like we re b biferindicating the issue. have you made that same negotiation over afghans because that s where most of these reports are coming from. we have seen those reports. we have made it clear to the taliban that these afghans should be allowed through the check point. i recognize that there s been multiple cases of afghans. even some credentials afghans being assaulted and beaten and harassed. no question.
i suspect it was very based on what they said during the military briefing that it was close to the perimeter of the airport. but, again, that s only a suspicion. it s not something that we ve confirmed or that we know for sure. and what it shows is that there must be some flexibility in at least the application of the rules of engagement that our troops are operating under. so, that could open up some, well, we ll call it interesting possibilities for the future. and hopefully people know that this is a very fluid and very dynamic and very, very dangerous area. colonel, in the seconds that we have left, i think they put an important question on the table. if this is going to extend beyond august 31st, why not say it? if this is going to be over on august 31st, why not say that? well, i think what you re looking at is, you know, the nuance of if you say something