Pentagon Says US Will Keep Relying on Taliban for Airport ‘protection’; U.S. officials provided Taliban with names of Americans, Afghan allies to evacuate; Sasse: We Need to Rescue Every Person on ‘Kill List’ Handed Over to Taliban, and related stories

Pentagon says US will keep relying on Taliban for airport ‘protection’:

The US will continue its evacuation mission from Afghanistan — and will keep relying on the Taliban for “protection” in the aftermath of the deadly terror attacks on the Kabul airport on Thursday, Department of Defense officials said in a news briefing.

At least 13 US service members were killed and 15 wounded after two suicide bombers struck the area around Hamid Karzai International Airport, Gen. Frank McKenzie Jr., commander of US Central Command, told reporters.

A “number of ISIS gunmen” then opened fire on US troops, he said.

The bombers appear to have somehow gotten past Taliban checkpoints on the outer perimeter of the airfield, McKenzie said, acknowledging there was “a failure somewhere.”

US officials are bracing for more attacks, and will continue to coordinate with the Taliban to secure the area. —>READ MORE HERE

U.S. officials provided Taliban with names of Americans, Afghan allies to evacuate:

U.S. officials in Kabul gave the Taliban a list of names of American citizens, green card holders and Afghan allies to grant entry into the militant-controlled outer perimeter of the city’s airport, a choice that’s prompted outrage behind the scenes from lawmakers and military officials.

The move, detailed to POLITICO by three U.S. and congressional officials, was designed to expedite the evacuation of tens of thousands of people from Afghanistan as chaos erupted in Afghanistan’s capital city last week after the Taliban seized control of the country. It also came as the Biden administration has been relying on the Taliban for security outside the airport.

Since the fall of Kabul in mid-August, nearly 100,000 people have been evacuated, most of whom had to pass through the Taliban’s many checkpoints. But the decision to provide specific names to the Taliban, which has a history of brutally murdering Afghans who collaborated with the U.S. and other coalition forces during the conflict, has angered lawmakers and military officials.

“Basically, they just put all those Afghans on a kill list,” said one defense official, who like others spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive topic. “It’s just appalling and shocking and makes you feel unclean.” —>READ MORE HERE

Follow links below to related stories:

+++++Sasse: We Need to Rescue Every Person on ‘Kill List’ Handed Over to Taliban+++++

Biden Counted on the Taliban to Protect Kabul Airport From ISIS-K. That Was Treason

Was It ‘Inevitable’ That We’d Hand the Taliban a Kill List?

CENTCOM Commander Reveals U.S. Intelligence-Sharing Operation with Taliban

Biden Just Prepared the Public for Abandoning Americans in Afghanistan

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