Taliban have not changed, says Biden as US military evacuations reach 7,000 – as it happened

• The US military has evacuated 7,000 people from Kabul over the past five days, Pentagon officials said. Maj Gen Hank Taylor said there were now more than 5,200 US troops on the ground in Afghanistan, and the Kabul international airport was “secure and open for flight operations”.
• Another 6,000 people have been processed and are ready to board evacuation flights in Kabul, state department spokesperson Ned Price said. More consular officers have also been sent to Kabul to double the capacity for processing potential evacuees. “This is an operation that will continue at as fast a clip as we can possibly manage,” Price told reporters.
• Joe Biden said he does not believe the Taliban have changed, despite the group’s recent efforts to present a more moderate image. Biden told ABC News yesterday, “I think they’re going through a sort of existential crisis about: Do they want to be recognized by the international community as being a legitimate government? I’m not sure they do.”
• The suspect in a bomb threat incident on Capitol Hill was “taken into custody without incident,” US Capitol Police chief Tom Manger said. The suspect, identified as 49-year-old Floyd Roy Roseberry from Grover, North Carolina, had driven up to the Library of Congress this morning and claimed to have a bomb in his pick-up truck. Nearby buildings were evacuated as law enforcement officials negotiated with Roseberry.
• Three US senators announced they had tested positive for coronavirus. All three senators -- John Hickenlooper, Angus King and Roger Wicker – were fully vaccinated. Hickenlooper and King credited the vaccine for their relatively mild cases, and the lawmakers encouraged their constituents to get vaccinated if they have not yet done so.
• Senators Joni Ernst and Jeanne Shaheen have issued a bipartisan letter urging Joe Biden calling to urgently evacuate Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) applicants. Fifty-three other senators have co-signed the letter, which asks for an “Immediate and full implementation of recently-passed legislation amending the process and eligibility for the Afghan Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program and for the urgent evacuation of SIV applicants whose service to the U.S. mission has put their lives in jeopardy”

– Joan E Greve and Maanvi Singh

Afghan journalist Ramin Rahman, 27, left on a US military plane at Hamid Karzai international airport. He writes:

The day the Taliban took over started with a call from my friend in Germany. He told me to get to the airport because there was potentially going to be a German embassy evacuation plane leaving that day. He put my name on their evacuation list because I had worked for German media, and I had been in the process of applying for a visa for the past year.

I didn’t have time to think. It felt like a lifeline for me as a progressive, outspoken journalist with tattoos – basically the antithesis of what the Taliban stands for. I took my laptop and phone and nothing else. I felt scared the minute I left my home – I’d never felt so much pressure.

When I reached the airport, the initial checkpoint was eerie. The police had left, and the military was almost all gone. There was only private airport security checking bags. I didn’t have a visa, so I was scared of being turned away – but I couldn’t turn back.

When I reached the international terminal, I was shocked at what I saw, and I started to feel hopeless. There were thousands of people: women and men with their crying babies, struggling over what to do. They were fearful that the Taliban were coming. All these people, including foreigners, went to the airport not knowing what would happen.

The people all around me were panicking as they realized there might not be a plane for them. Even if they had tickets, there was uncertainty around whether their flight would take off. They were frightened. So people started to damage the airport – windows and ticket booths. And from there, the situation just continued to get worse. I hid in a corner, even though I was also panicking.

Looking out the window, I watched a whole scene unravel around an aircraft trying to leave for Turkey. People were streaming into the plane, and even hanging from the stairs. The aircraft was over capacity, and people were being pushed off the stairs so the plane could take off. They were screaming so loud that we could hear them from inside the airport. “We want to go, or we will die,” some shouted. I just watched in horror as I waited, pondering my fate.

Read more:

That’s it from me today. My west coast colleague, Maanvi Singh, will take over the blog for the next few hours.

Here’s where the day stands so far:

• The US military has evacuated 7,000 people from Kabul over the past five days, Pentagon officials said. Maj Gen Hank Taylor said there are now more than 5,200 US troops on the ground in Afghanistan, and the Kabul international airport is “secure and open for flight operations”.
• Another 6,000 people have been processed and are ready to board evacuation flights in Kabul, state department spokesperson Ned Price said. More consular officers have also been sent to Kabul to double the capacity for processing potential evacuees. “This is an operation that will continue at as fast a clip as we can possibly manage,” Price told reporters.
• Joe Biden said he does not believe the Taliban have changed, despite the group’s recent efforts to present a more moderate image. Biden told ABC News yesterday, “I think they’re going through a sort of existential crisis about: Do they want to be recognized by the international community as being a legitimate government? I’m not sure they do.”
• The suspect in the bomb threat incident on Capitol Hill was “taken into custody without incident,” US Capitol Police chief Tom Manger said. The suspect, identified as 49-year-old Floyd Roy Roseberry from Grover, North Carolina, had driven up to the Library of Congress this morning and claimed to have a bomb in his pick-up truck. Nearby buildings were evacuated as law enforcement officials negotiated with Roseberry.
• Three US senators announced they had tested positive for coronavirus. All three senators -- John Hickenlooper, Angus King and Roger Wicker – were fully vaccinated. Both Hickenlooper and King credited the vaccine for their relatively mild cases, and the lawmakers encouraged their constituents to get vaccinated if they have not yet done so.

Maanvi will have more coming up, so stay tuned.

Make that three US senators who have tested positive for coronavirus: Democrat John Hickenlooper of Colorado has just announced he also contracted the virus.

“After experiencing mild symptoms, I tested positive for a breakthrough case of COVID-19,” Hickenlooper said in a statement. “I’m feeling much better and will continue to isolate at the direction of the Congressional Attending Physician.”

Hickenlooper’s statement comes on the same day that independent senator Angus King of Maine and Republican senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi announced their own positive test results. All three senators are fully vaccinated.

Echoing King, Hickenlooper credited the vaccine for giving him a relatively mild case of the virus, and he took the opportunity to thank the scientists who helped develop the life-saving medicine.

“I’m grateful for the vaccine (and the scientists behind it) for limiting my symptoms and allowing us to continue our work for Colorado,” Hickenlooper said.

“If you haven’t been vaccinated, don’t wait for the virus -- get the shot today, and a booster when it’s available too!”

The state department spokesman, Ned Price, is briefing journalists on the latest in Kabul.

He says there are now 6,000 people at the airport who have been processed and waiting to board flights. He could not give the breakdown of that figure into US nationals, Afghan embassy staff and other vulnerable Afghans.

He said there had only been “a handful of reports” of US citizens not being able to reach the airport.

The chief of US Capitol Police, Tom Manger, confirmed that the suspect in the bomb threat incident on Capitol Hill has been taken into custody after surrendering to law enforcement officers.

“Just moments ago, Floyd Roy Roseberry from Grover, North Carolina, was taken into custody without incident,” Manger told reporters.

Asked whether there were any explosives in Roseberry’s pick-up truck, Manger said that was not yet known and the investigation site was still considered to be “an active scene”.

“We still have to search the vehicle and render the vehicle safe,” Manger said, adding that the process could take hours.

Manger noted that Roseberry’s mother recently passed away, and the man’s family members indicated there were “other issues that he was dealing with”.

The suspect involved in the bomb threat incident on Capitol Hill appears to have surrendered, according to video captured by NBC News.

Law enforcement officials had been negotiating with the person since this morning, and US Capitol Police chief Tom Manger said earlier this afternoon that he was hoping for a “peaceful resolution” to the situation.

The blog will have more details coming up, so stay tuned.

The US is urging more than 150 countries not to send their leaders or government ministers to New York next month to speak in person at the UN’s annual general assembly event.

The government has sent out a missive asking leaders to consider giving a video address instead so that the huge rendezvous wouldn’t become “a super-spreader event”.

The AP reports:

A note from the US mission to the UN, obtained on Wednesday by The Associated Press, sent to the 192 other UN member nations, also called for all other UN-hosted meetings and side events to be virtual.

It noted that the meetings draw travelers to New York and will “needlessly increase risk to our community, New Yorkers and the other travelers” and high-level gatherings were expected to discuss the climate crisis, Covid vaccines, food systems, energy and the 20th anniversary of the UN world conference against racism.

The US said the pandemic “continues to pose a significant health risk around the world”.

The general assembly brings much of the east side of midtown Manhattan to a halt, with heavy security and long parades of vehicles ferrying world leaders and their entourages between meetings, accommodations, restaurants and consulates.

All counties in New York City are currently rated as having “the highest level of community transmission” of coronavirus, the US note said.

Here’s where the day stands so far:

• The US military has evacuated 7,000 people from Kabul over the past five days, Pentagon officials said. Maj Gen Hank Taylor said there are now more than 5,200 US troops on the ground in Afghanistan, and the Kabul international airport is “secure and open for flight operations”.
• Joe Biden said he does not believe the Taliban have changed, despite the group’s recent efforts to present a more moderate image. Biden told ABC News yesterday, “I think they’re going through a sort of existential crisis about: Do they want to be recognized by the international community as being a legitimate government? I’m not sure they do.”
• There is an ongoing bomb threat investigation unfolding on Capitol Hill. The chief of US Capitol Police, Tom Manger, said moments ago that a man drove up to the Library of Congress this morning and claimed to have a bomb in his pickup truck. The library and nearby buildings have been evacuated as law enforcement officials attempt to negotiate with the man.

The blog will have more coming up, so stay tuned.

The chief of the US Capitol Police, Tom Manger, provided reporters with an update on the ongoing bomb threat investigation on Capitol Hill.

Manger confirmed that, at 9:15 am today, a man in a pick-up drove up to the Library of Congress and claimed to have a bomb in his vehicle. He also appeared to display a detonator.

Law enforcement officials are attempting to negotiate with the man, and they are hoping for a “peaceful resolution” to the incident, Manger said.

“We don’t know what his motives are at this time,” Manger said.

The Pentagon is now holding a press briefing to provide an update on the ongoing evacuation efforts in Kabul.

Major General Hank Taylor said there are now more than 5,200 US troops on the ground, with more troops expected to arrive in the days ahead.

The Kabul international airport is “secure and open for flight operations,” Taylor said.

The US military has been able to evacuate approximately 7,000 people from Kabul since August 14, the general noted.

There is an “active bomb threat investigation” occurring at the US Capitol, according to a new alert from the Capitol Police department.

The USCP urged those in the area to “continue to avoid the area around the Library of Congress,” after the department previously reported a suspicious vehicle near the building.

At least one House office building has already been evacuated as a result of the bomb threat investigation.

Those in the Cannon Office Building were encouraged to “remain calm and relocate to the Longworth House Office Building using the underground tunnels”.

Luckily, many lawmakers and staffers are away from Capitol Hill right now because the House and the Senate are both in recess.

Roughly two-thirds of Americans believe the war in Afghanistan was not worth fighting, according to a new poll.

The AP-NORC survey found that 35% of Americans believe the war was worth fighting, while 62% say it was not.

Those numbers are notably similar when results are divided by political party, with 67% of Democrats and 57% of Republicans saying the war was not worthwhile.

But Americans are more divided on Joe Biden’s approach to foreign policy more broadly.

The poll found that 47% of Americans approve of Biden’s handling of international affairs, while 52% approve of the president’s national security policies.

The poll was conducted from August 12 to 16, so some responses were collected after the Taliban took control of Kabul.

The Guardian’s Hannah Ellis-Petersen and agencies report:

Joe Biden has said US troops may stay past a 31 August deadline so as to evacuate all Americans from Afghanistan, and defended the withdrawal, saying there was no way for the US to pull out “without chaos ensuing”.

As critics in the US and abroad questioned his handling of the withdrawal, the president said in his first on-camera interview since the Taliban took Kabul that troops would stay in the country to get American citizens out.

“If there’s American citizens left, we’re going to stay until we get them all out,” Biden told ABC News, signaling that he would listen to US lawmakers who had pressed him to extend the 31 August deadline he had set for a final pullout.

“We will determine at the time who is left and if they are not out we will stay,” he said, as more of the interview was aired on Thursday morning.

Asked if he thought the handling of the crisis could have gone better, Biden said: “No.”

Greetings from Washington, live blog readers.

Joe Biden sat down with ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos to defend his decision to withdraw all US troops from Afghanistan, as the chaotic evacuation mission continues in Kabul.

Stephanopoulos asked Biden whether he believed the Taliban had changed. “No,” Biden replied.

The president added, “I think they’re going through a sort of existential crisis about: Do they want to be recognized by the international community as being a legitimate government? I’m not sure they do.”

Biden’s comments come as the Taliban has made efforts to at least appear more moderate on issues like women’s rights, but many Afghans remain deeply skeptical that the group has actually changed its ways.

“They also care about whether they have food to eat, whether they have an income that ... can run an economy, they care about whether or not they can hold together the society that they in fact say they care so much about,” Biden said of the Taliban’s relationship with Afghan citizens. “I’m not counting on any of that.”

The blog will have more coming up, so stay tuned.