National

The Taliban this week introduced a new ban prohibiting women from using parks and gyms, Mohammed Akef Mohajer, a Taliban-appointed spokesperson for the Ministry of Vice and Virtue, confirmed to AP on Thursday.

Why it matters: The move illustrates yet another step the Taliban has taken to restrict women's freedoms, which have been steadily eroded since the group's return to power.

The big picture: The ban on women using gyms and parks was implemented this week because people weren't obeying the gender segregation rules and women weren't following the mandatory headscarf order, Mohajer told AP.

Mohajer said the group had "tried its best" to avoid a ban by implementing gender-specific visitation days and gender segregation.

"Unfortunately, the orders were not obeyed and the rules were violated, and we had to close parks and gyms for women,” Mohajer said.

“In most cases, we have seen both men and women together in parks and, unfortunately, the hijab was not observed. So we had to come up with another decision and for now we ordered all parks and gyms to be closed for women.”

Officials for the Taliban will now be monitoring parks and gyms to ensure women aren't still using them, he added.

The big picture: When the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021 it took steps to restrict women's freedoms, despite initially claiming that they would honor women's rights within the "frameworks" of Islamic law.

The Taliban swiftly changed the ministry of women affairs of Afghanistan to the "Ministries of Prayer and Guidance and the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice."

The group has also placed restrictions on women's movement and forced some women out of their jobs.

The Taliban reopened high schools in September 2021 but said only male students were allowed to return to class, saying that girls would be able to attend as the security situation allowed. They allowed women to continue their university studies, but only in gender-segregated classes and with mandatory head coverings. 

In March, they backtracked on a pledge to allow girls to return to high school just hours before the schools reopened.

In May the Taliban issued new rules that require women to cover their faces in public.

Go deeper: Taliban vow to honor women's rights, but within "cultural frameworks"

Taliban ban women from Afghanistan's parks and gyms

The move illustrates yet another step the Taliban has taken to restrict women's freedoms.

Afghan Hazara female student Fatima Amiri reads a book at her home in Dasht-e-Barchi in Kabul on Nov. 7, 2022. Photo: Wakil Kohsar/AFP via Getty Images

Afghanistan

China is becoming the most formidable rival America has faced, and the risk of confrontation with Russia, North Korea or Iran still looms. Authoritarians are rising, the chaotic Afghanistan exit revealed the limits of U.S. power, and the pandemic, climate change and other critical challenges continue to pose grave threats.

World

Memo of Trump ordering withdrawal of U.S. troops

The Jan. 6 committee confirmed in its hearing Thursday that then-President Trump signed a memo on Nov. 11, 2020, ordering the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Somalia and Afghanistan — days after the election was called for Joe Biden.

Why it matters: The committee pointed to the existence of the memo — which was first reported in Axios' "Off the Rails" series in May 2021 — as evidence that Trump knew he had lost the election and was scrambling to cement his foreign-policy legacy before leaving office.

Top leadership at the Pentagon viewed the hasty withdrawal as irresponsible and potentially dangerous and immediately mobilized to urge White House officials to change Trump's mind.

Keith Kellogg, former national security adviser to Vice President Mike Pence, testified to the committee: "An immediate departure that that memo said would have been catastrophic. It's the same thing with President Biden. It would have been a debacle."

Go deeper: Read the full inside account of Trump's war against his generals

Jan. 6 panel: Trump ordered large-scale U.S. troop withdrawals after election

The committee says it's evidence that Trump knew he had lost the election.

Military

Politics & Policy

Kicking off high-level week of the UN General Assembly, Secretary-General António Guterres warned on Tuesday the "world is in big trouble" as the international community remains "gridlocked in colossal global dysfunction" amid a cascade of humanitarian, security and political crises.

Why it matters: The war in Ukraine is expected to overshadow other new and protracted crises as world leaders meet at this year's UNGA. Guterres in his speech urged leaders to not lose sight of the fact that other "conflicts and humanitarian crises are spreading — often far from the spotlight."

What he's saying: "Divides are growing deeper. Inequalities are growing wider. Challenges are spreading farther," Guterres said.

From the deteriorating human rights situation in Myanmar to an unprecedented drought in the Horn of Africa to worsening security conditions in Haiti, Guterres listed major challenges nations are facing, saying: "We need action across the board. ... People are hurting — with the most vulnerable suffering the most."

"The divergence between developed and developing countries – between North and South — between the privileged and the rest — is becoming more dangerous by the day," Guterres said. "It is at the root of the geopolitical tensions and lack of trust that poison every area of global cooperation, from vaccines to sanctions to trade."

Guterres called for global cooperation, saying that despite the challenges, he sees hope. "By acting as one, we can nurture fragile shoots of hope."

"Let’s develop common solutions to common problems — grounded in goodwill, trust, and the rights shared by every human being. Let’s work as one, as a coalition of the world, as united nations."

Go deeper: What to watch for at the UN General Assembly

UN chief: The "world is in big trouble"

"We are gridlocked in colossal global dysfunction," Secretary-General António Guterres said.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Photo: Yuki Iwamura/AFP via Getty Images

United Nations General Assembly

Russia

Ukraine

U.S. Navy veteran Mark Frerichs, who was kidnapped in Afghanistan two years ago, was released Monday by the Taliban in an exchange with Afghan drug kingpin Bashir Noorzai, a senior Biden administration official confirmed to Axios. 

Why it matters: Frerichs, who worked as a contractor for a decade before his kidnapping, is the last remaining American known to be held hostage in Afghanistan, Axios' Zachary Basu reports.

Driving the news: Frerichs was exchanged at the Kabul airport with Noorzai, a drug lord who was serving out a life sentence in the U.S., acting foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said at a news conference, Reuters reports. 

"The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is ready to solve problems by negotiation with all, including the United States," Muttaqi said, per Reuters. 

"His release is the culmination of years of tireless work by dedicated public servants across our government and other partner governments, and I want to thank them for all that effort," President Biden said in a statement. 

"Bringing the negotiations that led to Mark’s freedom to a successful resolution required difficult decisions, which I did not take lightly," he said. 

The big picture: The U.S. had been calling for the Taliban to release Frerichs "before it can expect any consideration of its aspirations for legitimacy," Biden said earlier this year. 

The Taliban had previously offered to release Frerichs in exchange for Noorzai, who was sentenced in 2009 to life in prison on drug and conspiracy charges. 

The Biden administration "will continue to work intensively ... to bring home all Americans wrongfully detained or held hostage abroad and Mark’s successful release is evidence of our commitment," the senior administration official said.

What he's saying: "Our priority now is to make sure Mark receives a healthy and safe return and is given the space and time he needs to transition back into society," Biden said.

"My administration continues to prioritize the safe return of all Americans who are held hostage or wrongfully detained abroad, and we will not stop until they are reunited with their families," he added.

"We have much more work to do in many other cases, but Mark’s release demonstrates our enduring commitment."

Go deeper... One year on: Afghanistan in anguish

Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional details.

Taliban release American Mark Frerichs in prisoner swap

Frerichs is the last American known to be held hostage in Afghanistan

Bashar Noorzai (C), a warlord and Taliban associate attends press event at the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul on September 19, 2022.

Bashir Noorzai attends a press event at the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul on Sept. 19. Photo: Wakil Kohsar/AFP via Getty Images

An explosion at a crowded mosque in the western Afghanistan city of Herat killed at least 18 people, including a senior cleric with close ties to the Taliban, AP reports, citing officials. 

The big picture: The blast, which also injured at least 21 people, took place as worshippers gathered for Friday noon prayers at Herat’s Guzargah Mosque. No group immediately claimed responsibility. 

A Taliban spokesperson confirmed Mujib-ul Rahman Ansari, the pro-Taliban cleric, was among those killed in a "brutal attack" in Herat. 

Before the U.S. withdrawal and Taliban takeover, Ansari was known as a staunch critic of Afghanistan's Western-backed government.

State of play: The Taliban have said they've improved the security situation since retaking control of the country in August 2021, but there have been a string of attacks in recent months, AP notes. 

Another pro-Taliban cleric, Rahimullah Haqqani, was killed in a suicide bomb blast claimed by ISIS last month. 

Blast at Afghanistan mosque kills at least 18, including senior cleric

The explosion took place as worshippers gathered for Friday noon prayers.

Taliban fighters block a road after a blast during the Friday prayer in Gazargah mosque, in Herat on September 2, 2022. 

Taliban fighters block a road after a blast during the Friday prayers in Gazargah Mosque in Herat. Photo: AFP via Getty Images

As Afghanistan faces multiple crises, UN aid chief Martin Griffiths warned Monday that six million Afghans are at risk of famine and urged the international community to step up aid, saying that more than $700 million is needed to help Afghans through the winter months.

Driving the news: Over a year since the Taliban retook Afghanistan, Afghans have faced an imploding economy, a deteriorating human rights situation and a disastrous humanitarian situation.

Even before the Taliban takeover, Afghanistan was facing the costs of a severe drought that devastated livestock and decimated crops.

The big picture: About 24 million people — more than half the country's population — are in need of humanitarian assistance, with 19 million people contending with "acute levels" of food insecurity, Griffiths said in remarks to the UN Security Council.

About six million people are at risk of famine and roughly 3 million children are acutely malnourished.

More than $600 million in aid is urgently needed to prepare for winter, including for repairing and upgrading shelters, as well as providing warm clothes and blankets.

Another $154 million is required to pre-position food and other supplies before the winter weather cuts off access to certain areas, he added.

"We are up against time. These particular contributions are needed within the next three months," Griffiths told the UNSC.

What they're saying: "Afghanistan is a humanitarian crisis. But it’s not only that. It’s an economic crisis. It’s a climate crisis. It’s a hunger crisis. It’s a financial crisis. But it is not a hopeless crisis," Griffiths said.

"Poverty is deepening, the population is still growing, and the de facto authorities have no budget to invest in their own future. It’s clear to us — I’m sure it’s clear to all of us — that some development support needs to be restarted," Griffiths added.

"The humanitarian community has indeed stayed and delivered for the people of Afghanistan and continues to do so. It’s imperative that the international community, as reflected here, continues to do the same," he said, adding that, "Afghanistan’s de facto authorities must do their part.

"The people of Afghanistan are still there. They have shown incredible resilience over the decades and in this last year. Our task is to help them to prosper, to flourish, and to be safe."

UN warns six million Afghans at risk of famine amid deepening crises

"We are up against time. These particular contributions are needed within the next three months."

A displaced person camp in Nahr Shahi district of Balkh province, southern Afghanistan in Feb. 2022. Photo: Kawa Basharat/Xinhua via Getty Images

A bombing at a mosque in the Afghan capital Kabul on Wednesday, during evening prayers, killed at least 21 people and injured dozens of others, AP reports. 

Driving the news: No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, which wounded several children and killed a prominent cleric.

The explosion appeared to be carried out by a suicide bomber, according to an eyewitness, who is a resident of the city's Kher Khanna neighborhood, where the Siddiquiya Mosque is located, per AP.

Taliban government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid condemned the attack, writing on Twitter that the "perpetrators of such crimes will be ... punished for their actions."

The big picture: The Islamic State group's local affiliate has increased attacks on Afghanistan in the months since the Taliban retook control of the country.

The Islamic State last week claimed responsibility for an attack that killed a prominent Taliban cleric at his religious center in Kabul, per AP.

An explosion in April at a packed mosque in Kabul also killed at least 10 people and injured dozens of others.

State of play: This week marks one year since the Taliban retook control of the country. Since then, the Afghan people have borne the brunt of a collapsed economy, worsening humanitarian crisis and deteriorating human rights situation, Axios previously reported.

 Editor's note: This article has been updated with new details throughout.

Bombing at mosque in Kabul kills at least 21

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

Afghans pray at a grave of victims, after burial ceremony in a cemetery on the outskirts of Kabul on August 18, 2022

Afghans pray at a grave of victims after a burial ceremony in the outskirts of Kabul on August 18. Photo: Wakil Kohsar/AFP via Getty Images

The Biden administration is developing a portal to facilitate and simplify the reunification of Afghans with family members left behind in their Taliban-controlled country, three people familiar with the matter tell Axios. 

Why it matters: The portal would centralize what has been a piecemeal, case-by-case effort to reunify the thousands of Afghan families separated during the chaos that ensued after the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan a year ago. 

What we're watching: Currently, family reunifications are typically initiated by family members via email with the help of nonprofit groups and State Department liaisons who collect and verify documents individually. 

Once launched, the State Department-run portal would become a central location where family members could upload information through a streamlined process.   

The user will enter their own status on the website, which will then instruct the user to fill out the right form to enable their relative to access the pipeline for entry into the U.S., one administration official told Axios. 

The Biden administration is also considering waiving the $535 fee associated with filing an I-130 form, which allows a U.S. citizen to petition for a relative to come into the country. 

The big picture: Thousands of Afghan families were separated in the race to escape the country's collapse following the Taliban's seizure of Kabul. While many were evacuated to the U.S. and other countries, tens of thousands more were left behind. 

Immediate family members of Afghans relocated to the U.S. through the resettlement effort known as Operation Allies Welcome are being strongly considered for parole, according to a DHS spokesperson.

Immediate family of U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, former locally employed staff members in Embassy Kabul and some approved Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) applicants are also favored for parole. 

By the numbers: The Biden administration has brought more than 81,000 Afghans to the U.S. over the past year.

There are 74,000 Afghans at various stages of the SIV application process — most of whom are still in Afghanistan. There are also 40,000 Afghans still in their home country waiting for an answer to their request for humanitarian parole.

Of the 1,400 Afghan children who arrived in the U.S. without their parents, more than 1,200 have been placed with a sponsor or close family member. 

What they're saying: "AfghanEvac has been advocating for the family reunification portal," Shawn VanDiver, founder of the AfghanEvac Coalition, which represents over 200 organizations, told Axios. "We haven't met resistance on it. We really want to see any fees associated with reunification be waived. It should cost Afghans nothing to have their family reunified." 

Scoop: Biden administration developing Afghan family reunification portal

The portal would centralize what has a been a piecemeal, case-by-case effort.

Afghan refugees with U.S. navy service member

Afghan refugees receive instructions from a U.S. service member as they disembark from an aircraft in Rota, Spain, on Aug. 31, 2021. Photo: Cristina Quicler/AFP via Getty Images

Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) on Tuesday warned Americans not to allow Republicans to "pretend" that the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan wasn't "set in motion" by former President Trump and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Why it matters: This week marks one year since the Taliban retook control of Afghanistan, an event that kick-started a decline in President Biden's polling numbers and was seized by Republicans as a defining issue.

The White House plans to circulate a new memo defending the withdrawal and arguing that the Trump administration was responsible for the pullout after striking a deal with the Taliban in 2020 to evacuate the U.S. from the region by May 2021, Axios' Alayna Treene reports.

Meanwhile, Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs Committee are crafting plans to subpoena State Department officials over Biden's withdrawal if they win the majority in the midterms.

What they're saying: "Do not let my colleagues pretend today that Trump and Pompeo didn’t set in motion the Afghanistan withdrawal. They did," Kinzinger tweeted on Tuesday.

"I knew Pompeo in the House. He was a hawk on Afghanistan until Trump. He knew better, he owns this as well," he added.

"Trump, Pompeo and Biden are all to blame."

The other side: Pompeo responded to the criticism in a tweet on Thursday, saying that Kinzinger, "repeatedly asked me for job in Trump Admin (Air Force Sec, Amb), and for wife."

"Now attacks our Afghan plan that saw no US fatalities/no Taliban takeover/no Americans left behind. Adam, I enjoyed our work in Congress. What’s happened to you? YOU should know better," he added.

Go deeper: White House to circulate Afghanistan memo defending U.S. withdrawal

Editor's note: This story was updated with Pompeo's response.

Kinzinger: Trump and Pompeo set Afghanistan withdrawal "in motion"

"I knew Pompeo in the House. He was a hawk on Afghanistan until Trump."

Adam Kinzinger speaks during a Jan. 6 select committee hearing on July 21. Photo: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Axios World

Zalmay Khalilzad was tasked by two U.S. presidents with negotiating an orderly U.S. exit from Afghanistan. Instead, one year ago, Kabul collapsed, the U.S. mounted a frantic evacuation, and the Taliban took total control.

What he's saying: "It's very unfortunate that we couldn't get a political agreement before the Taliban moved in," Khalilzad tells Axios in a phone interview. 

Flashback: There was still a glimmer of hope for a power-sharing deal, he argues, until Aug. 15, 2021. 

The Taliban had agreed to halt its advance outside Kabul and meet a delegation of senior Afghan politicians, including former President Hamid Karzai. But when President Ashraf Ghani fled, Khalilzad says, he left a vacuum.

The Taliban initially offered to let the U.S. military secure Kabul temporarily, Khalilzad says. Then-CENTCOM Commander Gen. Kenneth McKenzie later testified that there was no "formal offer" from the Taliban, and "we did not have the resources to undertake that mission.”

Instead, Taliban fighters swept into the city. The militant group later formed a government made up entirely of its own hardliners. The U.S. was out and Khalilzad's mission was over. He left the government last October.

The backstory: An Afghan-born veteran diplomat, Khalilzad was named by Donald Trump as special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation in 2018 and retained by President Biden. 

Both presidents wanted out of Afghanistan. While Khalilzad says he viewed the U.S troop presence as its primary leverage over the Taliban, both presidents saw it as a "burden."

Khalilzad says he and others argued internally that Biden should leave troops in Afghanistan until certain conditions were met — in particular, some form of intra-Afghan agreement on the future governance of the country. 

"I said, 'No, I cannot guarantee that there will be a political settlement, but it will provide us leverage with the Taliban,'" Khalilzad recalls. "The president thought we might never get to an agreement and we might get stuck there."

Between the lines: Biden's pessimism was hardly unreasonable, given the lack of progress in intra-Afghan talks prior to the fall of Kabul.

Now in power, the Taliban are held hostage by some of its more hardline elements, Khalilzad contends. 

For example, he says most senior Talibs believe girls should be allowed an education, and yet the Taliban government has offered a series of shifting explanations as to why schools can't yet be reopened.

"They emphasize unity because they don't want to fight each other, but at the same time there are clear differences inside," Khalilzad says. "That makes it frustrating dealing with them, because... all factions have to agree before they can give a definitive response."

Until the group moves toward a more inclusive government and society, it won't gain broad acceptance domestically or recognition and sanctions relief internationally, Khalilzad argues.

That means the U.S. still has leverage in Afghanistan, Khalilzad insists. And now the administration isn't operating on a tight timetable or worried about risks to U.S. troops. 

"The question is whether there can be a tradeoff — what we would do in exchange for what they do."

What to watch: Khalilzad says his understanding is that the U.S. has signaled to the Taliban that it would be open to talks if two conditions are met: that American detainee Mark Frerichs be released and that schools be reopened to girls. 

A State Department spokesperson told Axios those were "two key priorities of ours" and that "a lack of progress will hinder improvement in our relationship with the Taliban."

Khalilzad notes that even if relations do improve, negotiating with the Taliban will be sensitive politically. 

Worth noting: Khalilzad says the harboring of al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri by at least some elements of the Taliban was a "clear violation" of the Doha Agreement, which he negotiated and signed in 2020. 

He also notes that the sudden Taliban takeover last August left the sides without a clear roadmap for implementing some aspects of the deal.

Meanwhile, Ghani used one of his first interviews from exile in the UAE to blame Khalilzad for the fall of Kabul. Speaking to Axios, Khalilzad calls the comments "unfortunate" and questions how much "self-reflection" Ghani has done. 

Interview: Former U.S. envoy Khalilzad on leaving Afghanistan to the Taliban

"The president thought we might get stuck there."

Khalilzad (L) alongside then-Taliban political leader Abdul Ghani Baradar at the signing of the Doha Accords in 2020. Photo: Giuseppe Cacace/AFP via Getty

Sneak Peek

Axios Sneak Peek

Shortly before 8 a.m. last Friday, an official at U.S. Central Command sent a searing wake-up call to colleagues: The sweltering Qatar air base where the Biden administration is housing thousands of Afghan evacuees was awash with loose feces and urine and a rat infestation, according to internal emails shared with Axios.

Why it matters: The email highlights the despair inside the federal government and some elements of the administration at the handling of the Afghanistan withdrawal.

President Biden faces intense criticism for failing to secure safe passage to the airport in Kabul or guarantee flights out for thousands of Afghans targeted by the Taliban. 

But the account of conditions at Al Udeid Air Base in Doha shows how the U.S. was unprepared to receive thousands of desperate Afghans in a safe and sanitary environment.

"We recognize this is a challenging and difficult situation for these vulnerable individuals and families, and we remain committed to providing a secure, safe and sanitary environment," said Navy Capt. William Urban, a spokesperson for U.S. Central Command.

"It has been challenging to keep up with the flow, but we have made progress in caring for and safeguarding these vulnerable individuals and in getting them moving onward," Urban told Axios.

Driving the news: The email by supervisory special agent Colin Sullivan — with subject line "Dire conditions at Doha" — went to officials at the State Department and the Pentagon. It described "a life-threatening humanitarian disaster … that I want to make sure all of you are fully tracking."

"While not in any way downplaying the conditions in Kabul nor the conditions the Afghanis [sic] are escaping from, the current conditions in Doha are of our own doing."

Sullivan is a veteran member of the State Department's Diplomatic Security Service now serving as a liaison to U.S. Central Command. It oversees U.S. military forces and actions in the Middle East.

Contacted by Axios, Sullivan referred questions about his email to a Defense Department spokesperson.

The Pentagon told Axios it has taken concrete steps to improve conditions on the ground, including installing more than 100 toilets and offering 7,000 traditional Afghan meals, three times a day.

And a State Department spokesperson said: “We are working quickly to alleviate bottlenecks and are surging consular personnel in Qatar, in addition to expediting manifesting, to alleviate current conditions."

On Monday "more than 3,700 individuals were transported to follow-on destinations in the United States, Germany and Italy," said the spokesperson. "Our goal is to process them for onward destinations within a few days of arrival."

Between the lines: The State Department had done little to advise the Defense Department about how to build appropriate facilities to house thousands of Afghan refugees, according to the U.S. government official who read out the emails to Axios.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity to describe sensitive internal discussions. The official said U.S. Central Command was doing the best it could under appalling conditions and inadequate forethought and contingency planning from the State Department and White House.

Behind the scenes: In his email, Sullivan also shared what he said were "excerpts from Doha Embassy staff communications" about the conditions at the Al Udeid base.

"A humid day today. Where the Afghans are housed is a living hell. Trash, urine, fecal matter, spilled liquids and vomit cover the floors."

"I spent an hour in there picking up trash ... almost suffocated."

"Another flight arrived and there's no resources to solve the sanitation problem."

"These human beings are in a living nightmare."

"We're in the middle of humanitarian crises [sic] that compounds itself with every flight that lands in Doha."

"Hangar update. They now have a rat problem."

Embassy Doha personnel have also expressed concerns about their own staff catching COVID-19 from arriving evacuees.

"I am pulling all [Chief of Mission] personnel out of the AFGHAN hangar," said one response in the communications chain. “I've advised the [assistant deputy chief of mission] of the pullout who 100% supports this decision."

The big picture: Al Udeid is a major military airport in a country that extends like a thumb from Saudi Arabia into the central Persian Gulf.

Along with Kuwait, Al Udeid provides the closest staging area to Afghanistan both to import U.S. troops securing Kabul's airport and to export U.S. citizens and evacuees fleeing the country.

What they're saying: One official familiar both with the flights and the airfield in Qatar told Axios the hangars at Al Udeid have no air conditioning, only large fans and evaporative "swamp coolers."

“It’s brutally hot," the official said. "The base is in the middle of a desert. There's nothing around it."

"There's a reason they're not holding the World Cup in the middle of the summer there." The 2022 World Cup is being held in Doha — but in November.

The weather forecast there called for a high of 103°F on Tuesday, climbing to 107°F on Wednesday.

Go deeper: The Washington Post posted a video and other details from inside the Doha hangar over the weekend.

The White House has touted the overall evacuation effort, drawing attention to a growing tally of daily flights and accelerating pace of evacuations.

"You make adjustments and you ultimately get an operation going that is moving out thousands, if not tens of thousands, of people daily. That is what we have accomplished over the course of the week," national security adviser Jake Sullivan said during a White House briefing on Monday.

"It has not been without its immense difficulties. And we are very mindful of those difficulties. We are clear-eyed about those difficulties."

"A living hell": Leaked email describes Afghan refugee conditions

The sweltering U.S. air base in Qatar was awash with loose feces and urine and a rat infestation.

Evacuees are seen lining up on Saturday before boarding a U.S. Air Force C-17 transport at Kabul's airport.