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As the Defense Department continues to stick to its plans of not reaching out into Kabul to assist U.S. personnel and Afghan helpers evacuate, British and French forces have done so to rescue their citizens, multiple outlets report.

The Daily Mail reported that London deployed an additional 300 troops to Kabul specifically to extract trapped British nationals earlier in the week. Within hours of touching down in Kabul, the British troops retrieved some 200 British nationals from around Kabul, the Telegraph reported. Prompting the mission were reports of Taliban hunting down former Afghan government officials, along with Britons stuck behind a web of Taliban checkpoints lining the route to the airport.

Additionally, France 24 reports that the French military has been conducting similar operations since Monday. French President Emmanuel Macron thanked French security forces on Twitter for executing a 'sensitive operation' which evacuated more than 200 French and Afghans.

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JUST IN: Biden tells @ABC that Taliban is "cooperating," allowing Americans to leave Afghanistan.

But, he allows, "we're having some more difficulty having those who helped us when we were in there."

— Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) August 18, 2021

U.S. Air Force C-17 evacuation flights leaving Kabul airport nearly half empty: Pentagon

— Lucas Tomlinson (@LucasFoxNews) August 19, 2021

Have been speaking with evacuees directly on the ground in Kabul.

Taliban not honoring their word.
Obstructing ingress points to the airport, beating and harassing evacuees, scaring many off. US troops prohibited from expanding perimeter or helping.

Many still stuck.

— John Noonan (@noonanjo) August 19, 2021

Another evacuee, a US citizen texted:

“We are going tomorrow to airport my mother is also injured and so is one the guys I think he has broken back from the When they hit him with an AK.”

“I also have back problems because I got hit with back of machine gun.”

— John Noonan (@noonanjo) August 19, 2021

After at least four attempts in as many days, the family finally was whisked away by helicopter Wednesday in a dramatic rescue — called Operation Promise Kept — carried out under cover of darkness by the U.S. military and its allies.https://t.co/8jshFmL7Dl pic.twitter.com/5sLTsK3OVt

— ArmyTimes (@ArmyTimes) August 19, 2021

Jacques Strap said:

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Taliban fighters hunting a journalist for German Broadcaster @dwnews have shot dead one member of his family and seriously injured another. The Taliban were conducting a house-to-house search to try and find the journalist, who now works in Germany.https://t.co/HzAwBsRnf8

— Alex Tiffin (@RespectIsVital) August 19, 2021

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HuMcK said:

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You've posted that same story about the French and Brits going out but not us at least a half a dozen times in this thread. Not sure how it squares with the story below, where we (US mil) went out and picked up an Afgan police chief to evacuate him and his family. The article says other missions are ongoing, but they can't discuss details.

After at least four attempts in as many days, the family finally was whisked away by helicopter Wednesday in a dramatic rescue — called Operation Promise Kept — carried out under cover of darkness by the U.S. military and its allies.https://t.co/8jshFmL7Dl pic.twitter.com/5sLTsK3OVt

— ArmyTimes (@ArmyTimes) August 19, 2021

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Clarissa Ward on scene at Kabul airport: "one of the more harrowing things I have experienced" pic.twitter.com/aY4Z5TyayW

— Brianna Keilar (@brikeilarcnn) August 20, 2021

Oklahoma mom of 11 rescues members of Afghan all-girls robotics team https://t.co/awrsW3aANt pic.twitter.com/IqWY3Caaum

— New York Post (@nypost) August 20, 2021

I have personally been on the phone with multiple American citizens and Afghan allies *while* they were being beaten and threatened by Taliban fighters blocking route to airport.

Our government needs to face this reality and do whatever is necessary to bring our people home. https://t.co/3eQp1OFcpD

— Matthew Downer (@mpdowner) August 19, 2021

.@BretBaier Q: Is there a deal with the Taliban that restricts US forces to the airport?
 
KIRBY: No, there's no deal that restricts forces to the airport, but that's where the mission is.

— Lucas Tomlinson (@LucasFoxNews) August 19, 2021

Look at the crowd in Kabul trying to reach the compound where those being evacuated by the UK are taken to... it’s mind bogglingly chaotic... absolutely no filtering of who’s eligible and who’s not until you get right up to the soldiers and wave your documents in their face 💔 pic.twitter.com/vKWLrL49Dn

— Secunder Kermani (@SecKermani) August 20, 2021

This is the scene at the entrance to the compound - really difficult for families with permission to be evacuated to make their way through

We fortunately managed to help connect the family with a v young baby to soldiers / medics pic.twitter.com/h7nlYJUWQS

— Secunder Kermani (@SecKermani) August 20, 2021

Rawhide said:

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Jacques Strap said:

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Taliban fighters hunting a journalist for German Broadcaster @dwnews have shot dead one member of his family and seriously injured another. The Taliban were conducting a house-to-house search to try and find the journalist, who now works in Germany.https://t.co/HzAwBsRnf8

— Alex Tiffin (@RespectIsVital) August 19, 2021

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I could be wrong, but do I see Stark Industries printed on the side of the guns?

Oh and Nike on their clothes?

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The United States has rushed troops and diplomatic reinforcements to the Kabul airport in recent days to speed up visa processing for Afghans. American commanders are negotiating daily with their Taliban counterparts the former insurgents they battled for nearly two decades to ensure that evacuees can reach the airport.

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But the reassurances from Washington belie the fear and futility on the ground.

Thousands are waiting fearfully outside the airport gates, where Taliban soldiers have attacked people with sticks and rifle butts. As Afghans clutching travel documents camped outside amid Taliban checkpoints and tangles of concertina wire, anxious crowds were pressed up against blast walls, with women and children being hoisted into the arms of U.S. soldiers on the other side.

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A man who has an approved SIV gave up entering Kabul Airport after over 24 hours attempt. “We were stuck be­tween the ag­gres­sion of the Tal­iban and U.S. forces in the gate,” said the man. “I don’t know if I will ever be able to get out.”@SaeedShah and I report. https://t.co/Z7U46fibyx

— Ehsanullah Amiri (@euamiri) August 20, 2021

What you are not saying -- I'm hearing in there that you're prepared to leave people behind [in Afghanistan]@WHCommsDir: We're doing everything we can to get as many people out who want to get out before the August 31st deadline. pic.twitter.com/Gtfze5sYt0

— Brianna Keilar (@brikeilarcnn) August 20, 2021

Jacques Strap said:

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Afghanistan: Desperate women throw babies over razor wire at compound, asking British soldiers to take them https://t.co/mUWOCN9XGP

— Sky News (@SkyNews) August 18, 2021

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Jacques Strap said:

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What you are not saying -- I'm hearing in there that you're prepared to leave people behind [in Afghanistan]@WHCommsDir: We're doing everything we can to get as many people out who want to get out before the August 31st deadline. pic.twitter.com/Gtfze5sYt0

— Brianna Keilar (@brikeilarcnn) August 20, 2021

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Our work at @humanrights1st quoted in this BBC report on biometric databases in #Afghanistan. It says over 6 million people applied for a biometric ID card, with fingerprints, iris scans & a photograph. We assume the Taliban can now access this info https://t.co/PxAINnup4g

— Brian Dooley (@dooley_dooley) August 20, 2021

whitetrash said:

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Jacques Strap said:

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What you are not saying -- I'm hearing in there that you're prepared to leave people behind [in Afghanistan]@WHCommsDir: We're doing everything we can to get as many people out who want to get out before the August 31st deadline. pic.twitter.com/Gtfze5sYt0

— Brianna Keilar (@brikeilarcnn) August 20, 2021

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That looks like a mugshot of a Congressional intern who got hauled in for DUI.

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Forest Bueller said:

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whitetrash said:

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Jacques Strap said:

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What you are not saying -- I'm hearing in there that you're prepared to leave people behind [in Afghanistan]@WHCommsDir: We're doing everything we can to get as many people out who want to get out before the August 31st deadline. pic.twitter.com/Gtfze5sYt0

— Brianna Keilar (@brikeilarcnn) August 20, 2021

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That looks like a mugshot of a Congressional intern who got hauled in for DUI.

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Looks like the new catch phrase is "the president is laser focused".

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Yesterday @PentagonPresSec said Americans are not being impeded as they travel to the Kabul airport, no Americans harmed. The Taliban agreed to let them evacuate. What I am hearing suggests otherwise. Americans have been injured and stopped from boarding planes.

— Sasha Ingber (@SashaIngber) August 20, 2021

Soldiers by the runway at Kabul airport tell me that there are 10,000 people here processed and ready to go… but nowhere to fly them to because Qatar is refusing to accept more Afghans because they’ve reached capacity. “It’s abysmal… someone needs to step up.”

— Clarissa Ward (@clarissaward) August 20, 2021

BREAKING: @CBSNews has learned the government of Bahrain has given permission for evacuation flights to start landing at Isa Air Base. The first flights are expected to arrive there this afternoon.

As we have been reporting, the facility in #Doha is at capacity. #afghanistan

— Ruffini (@EenaRuffini) August 20, 2021

"bit of a backup" https://t.co/wOIl8mIToY

— Ruffini (@EenaRuffini) August 20, 2021

WH Communications Director Kate Bedingfield: "I know there's been a lot of criticism of the effort and of how things have played out over the last couple of days. But the truth is, the president prepared for this possibility." pic.twitter.com/ygZXOSYygw

— The Hill (@thehill) August 20, 2021

whitetrash said:

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Jacques Strap said:

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WH Communications Director Kate Bedingfield: "I know there's been a lot of criticism of the effort and of how things have played out over the last couple of days. But the truth is, the president prepared for this possibility." pic.twitter.com/ygZXOSYygw

— The Hill (@thehill) August 20, 2021

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Instead of Baghdad Bob we get Kabul Katie.

And does she not own a hairbrush? Is that somehow a tool of the oppressive patriarchy?

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Jacques Strap said:

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*This text was compiled from uncorrected Closed Captioning.

THANK YOU, MR. PRESIDENT. TWO QUESTIONS. THE MILITARY HAS SECURED THE AIRPORT, BUT WILL YOU SIGN OFF ON SENDING U.S. TROOPS INTO KABUL TO EVACUATE AMERICANS WHO HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO GET TO THE AIRPORT SAFELY?

WE HAVE NO INDICATION THAT THEY HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO GET, IN COUPLE, THROUGH THE AIRPORT. WE HAVE MADE AN AGREEMENT WITH THE TALIBAN, AND THEY HAVE ALLOWED THEM TO GO THROUGH. WE KNOW IF NO CIRCUMSTANCE WHERE AMERICAN CITIZENS THAT ARE CARRYING AN AMERICAN PASSPORT ARE TRYING TO GET THROUGH THROUGH THE AIRPORT. BUT WE WILL DO WHATEVER NEEDS TO BE DONE TO SEE TO IT THEY GET THERE.

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THANK YOU, MR. PRESIDENT. I WANT TO FOLLOW UP ON SOMETHING YOU SAID, THAT THERE IS NO CIRCUMSTANCES WERE AMERICAN CITIZENS CANNOT GET TO THE AIRPORT. THAT DOES NOT REALLY SQUARE OF THE IMAGES WE ARE SEEING AROUND THE AIRPORT AND THE REPORTING ON THE GROUND FROM OUR COLLEAGUES WHO ARE DESCRIBING CHAOS AND VIOLENCE. ARE YOU SAYING THAT ANY AMERICAN WHO WANTS TO GET TO THE AIRPORT IS IN THERE AND GETTING PAST THE SECURITY BARRIER AND TO THE PLANES?

I THOUGHT THE QUESTION WAS, HOW CAN THEY GET THROUGH TO THE AIRPORT OUTSIDE THE AIRPORT? AND THE ANSWER IS, TO THE BEST OF OUR KNOWLEDGE, THE TALIBAN CHECKPOINTS, THEY ARE LETTING THROUGH PEOPLE SHOWING AMERICAN PASSPORTS. NOW THAT IS A DIFFERENT QUESTION WHEN YOU GET INTO THE RUSHING CROWD OF ALL THE FOLKS JUST OUTSIDE THE WALL NEAR THE AIRPORT. THAT IS WHY WE HAD TO -- I GUESS, WAS IT YESTERDAY OR THE DAY BEFORE, WE WENT OVER THE WALL AND BROUGHT IN -- HOW MANY? 169 AMERICANS. SO IT IS A PROCESS TO TRY TO FIGURE OUT HOW WE DEAL WITH THE MAD RUSH OF NON-AMERICANS, THOSE WHO DID NOT HELP, THOSE WHO ARE NOT ON THE PRIORITY LIST, JUST ANY AFGHAN, ANY AFGHAN TO BE ABLE TO GET OUT OF THE COUNTRY. SO MY GUESS IS THAT, NO MATTER WHAT, UNDER WHAT CIRCUMSTANCE, THERE IS NOT A WHOLE LOT OF AFGHANI'S -- THERE IS A WHOLE LOT OF AFGHANIS WHO WOULD JUST ASSUME COME TO AMERICA, WHETHER THERE WAS ANY INVOLVEMENT WITH THE UNITED STATES IN THE PAST AT ALL, RATHER THAN STAY UNDER TALIBAN RULE, ANY RULE. WHAT I WAS SAYING IS WE HAVE AN AGREEMENT THAT THEY WILL LET PASS THROUGH THE CHECKPOINTS THAT THEY, THE TALIBAN CONTROL, LET AMERICANS THROUGH.

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One corporate press stenographer changed up his pre-approved question. Biden literally answered, "I thought the question was," before attempting to answer the new question.

Insane. Clown regime stuff.

— Jordan Schachtel @ dossier.substack.com (@JordanSchachtel) August 20, 2021

Once the NPR reporter went off script Biden ended the briefing.

— Beverly Hallberg (@BeverlyHallberg) August 20, 2021

.@DavidMuir: "The president said he has no intelligence that the Americans have not been able to get [to the Kabul airport]. The question, obviously—does that square with reporting on ground?"@IanPannell: "I mean—just totally not."

Read more: https://t.co/6U5QW2IOjc pic.twitter.com/DTuyOZBmmn

— ABC News (@ABC) August 20, 2021