Pentagon can’t say how final hours of evacuations from Kabul will play out or how many Americans remain

US officials remained vague surrounding the final days of the pullout of American troops from Kabul’s airport at a news conference on Thursday, raising concerns that the last hours could see a return of the chaotic scenes that erupted just over a week ago.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby and General Hank Taylor said Kabul’s airport would not remain under US control beyond 31 August when pressed by journalists as to how the security of the airstrip would be guaranteed when the last US troops boarded their flights.

The question as to what the presence on the ground will look like when those last troops are on their aircraft remained unclear. Gen Taylor said the airfield would be secure, and the two men dismissed assertions that the US was relying on the Taliban to guarantee a secure takeoff for the final craft.

“When we are gone, the airport will no longer be secured by American forces,” Mr Kirby told one reporter.

“We will have that ability to secure ourselves through multiple means to ensure that flights are able to take off [in those last hours of the evacuation],” added Gen Taylor.

“I don’t have a specific number of total of Americans that are still in need of leaving,” Mr Kirby said.

Gen Taylor said that on Tuesday, 42 US military aircraft left Kabul with approximately 11,200 personnel, while another 7,800 flew out on flights run by allied nations. In total, some 88,000 people have safely departed Afghanistan, while 10,000 are awaiting departure from the airport.

The Pentagon revealed that another helicopter mission – believed to be the third of its type – had brought up to 20 more people into the airport from elsewhere in Kabul. Mr Kirby declined to reveal any more details.

Their statements, ahead of a second Pentagon news briefing later, come less than a week before the US mission to evacuate Americans and special immigrant visa holders (SIVs) is set to conclude on 31 August. Once again, officials were unable to clarify to reporters whether the mission will end at midnight Kabul time, or when exactly the last US plane will leave.

The two also expressed annoyance at two congressmen, Reps Peter Meijer and Seth Moulton, who despite being military veterans themselves apparently flew to Kabul unannounced for a photo op saying they were “conduct[ing] oversight” of the evacuations. The two took seats on a US military aircraft to get out, and according to Mr Kirby used both resources and time that the US military would have otherwise used on the mission.

“They certainly took time away from what we had been planning to do that day,” he said.

Biden administration officials are clearly hoping to avoid further scenes of panic at the Kabul airport as they control the damage caused by scenes of Afghans falling from departing aircraft to their deaths and dying in stampedes at the airport, which occurred just over a week ago shortly following the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul.

Human remains were discovered in the wheel well of one C-17 aircraft that departed Kabul last week; at least half a dozen Afghans have died at the airport since evacuations began.

It remains to be seen whether the last of the US forces and special immigration visa (SIV) holders will make it out of the airport without obstruction from the Taliban or further violence either between the US and Taliban or Isis, or other conflicts arising.