Joe Biden has finally ordered US troops to rescue Americans in Kabul after first banning soldiers from leaving the airport - while elite forces from allied countries ventured behind enemy lines.
But faced with a race against time the President has changed tack and also ramped up airlift operations, with the biggest haul of evacuations since the crisis started - 28 military jets rescued 10,400 people in the 24 hours to early Monday. Another 15 C-17 flights over the next 12 hours brought out another 6,660.
US Special Operations rescued 16 Americans from an unspecified location around two hours outside Kabul early on Monday morning. The Pentagon revealed it was carried out by helicopter without disclosing further details.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby also revealed that last Thursday three Army helicopters picked up 169 Americans near a hotel just beyond the airport gate and flew them onto the runway.
The airport has become a relative safe haven but accessing it has proven near impossible due to Taliban checkpoints and chaos among the crowds outside the perimeter.
The Taliban has also warned that there will be 'consequences' if the US doesn't keep to its August 31 deadline to pull out all of its remaining troops.
In a video conference last week, the President told top commanders that he was reluctant to deploy US forces outside the wire over fears of a Black Hawk Down-style tragedy, sources revealed.
Eighteen Americans were killed when two Black Hawk helicopters were shot down over Mogadishu during the Somali Civil War in 1993. The infamous incident later inspired the 2001 Ridley Scott movie Black Hawk Down.
However, Biden is under international pressure to extend the date so that as many people as possible can be evacuated. He will join other G7 leaders on a virtual call later today for an emergency meeting on that subject after Nato begged Biden to re-think his plan to avert a humanitarian disaster.
The President's about-face in allowing troops to carry out rescue missions outside the airport comes after Republican lawmakers said it was 'humiliating' that American soldiers were behind the walls while British, French and German special forces were speeding into downtown Kabul in armored cars.
In a conference call with military officials last week, President Biden said he didn't want rescue missions to turn into 'Black Hawk Down,' when US choppers were shot down in Somalia in 1993
As recently as Sunday, he had warned that Islamic State posed an immediate threat to US soldiers at the airport.
'These troops and innocent civilians at the airport face the risk of attack from ISIS from a distance, even though we're moving back the perimeter significantly,' Biden said in a speech at the White House.
'We're working hard and as fast as we can to get people out. That's our mission. That's our goal.
'What I'm not going to do is talk about the tactical changes we're making to make sure we maintain as much security as we can,' he added.
National security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said at the White House that talks with the Taliban are continuing as the administration looks for additional ways to safely move more Americans and others into the Kabul airport.
'We are in talks with the Taliban on a daily basis through both political and security channels,' he said, adding that ultimately it will be Biden's decision alone whether to continue military-led evacuation operations beyond August 31.
California Democrat Rep Adam Schiff, chairman of the House intelligence committee, told reporters after a committee briefing Monday on the Afghanistan withdrawal 'it was hard for me to imagine' wrapping up the airlifts by the end of the month.
He also said it was clear 'there were any number of warnings' to the administration 'of a very rapid takeover' by the Taliban.
After more than a week of evacuations plagued by major obstacles, including Taliban forces and crushing crowds that are making approaching the airport difficult and dangerous, the number of people flown out met - and exceeded
