Pentagon Ramping Up Kabul Evacuation Efforts

The Taliban is moving quickly to crush any opposition as the race to escape Afghanistan intensifies. The Pentagon is ramping up Kabul evacuation efforts as many struggle to reach the airport amid chaos and Taliban crackdown. The State Department says that 6,000 people at the Kabul airport are awaiting planes. 20 evacuation flights are expected to leave Afghanistan tonight. The Taliban is cracking down on protests and Afghans trying to leave the country. Armed jets are flying over Kabul to ensure people's security, according to the Pentagon. 

The State Department says "We take very seriously" reports of people being blocked by the Taliban from getting to the airport. 

The White House is struggling to contain the fallout from President Joe Biden's defiant denial of mistakes in the Afghanistan exit. U.S. diplomats warned, last month, of a potential catastrophe in Afghanistan to happen and a need for quick evacuations, according to CNN. Biden says that there was "no consensus" that the Taliban would take over quickly, while he spoke about intel. 

After a bomb threat at Capitol Hill, a source says that the bomb threat suspect didn't have a viable explosive, but did possess suspected bomb making material. 

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