An American mother is begging President Joe Biden (pictured at an event Monday) to help citizens trapped in Afghanistan get home. She pleaded: 'We are in danger. We are in danger Mr. President, please help us'
An American woman stranded in Kabul is begging Joe Biden to help her get back home to her children in the United States as the president rejected pleas from G7 allies to extend the evacuation beyond the August 31 withdrawal deadline.
'We are in danger. We are in danger Mr. President, please help us,' the mother, identified by the pseudonym Fatima, pleaded.
It comes as the U.S. ramped up airlifts by evacuating 21,600 people in the last 24 hours from Kabul airport, which remains besieged by thousands of desperate Afghans trying to flee the Taliban.
The militant group said it will not tolerate delay to the withdrawal for troops leaving and warned of 'consequences' if the U.S. doesn't keep to its August 31 deadline. This means there are now seven days to evacuate Americans from Afghanistan.
Fatima is just one of an unknown number of Americans who remains trapped in the country. Officials say they do not know exact number of citizens that still need to be flown out - and now time is rapidly running out.
Boris Johnson, Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel used a G7 meeting to urge Biden to keep the operation going longer, however, White House sources confirmed Tuesday that the president had instead agreed with the Pentagon that there would be no change to the timeline of the mission.
Even Democrats, including U.S. House Intelligence Committee Adam Schiff has said it is 'unlikely' that everyone who needs to be rescued would leave the Taliban-run country before Biden's deadline.
The woman has described the evacuation process as lacking guidance and being full of miscommunication. She also says its nearly impossible to get to the airport in Kabul (pictured above on Tuesday as thousands wait to flee Afghanistan)
An aerial picture taken Monday shows crowds and traffic outside the Kabul airport as Americans and Afghan allies attempt to flee Afghanistan
'We are stranded at home,' Fatima told Fox News. 'We can't get to the airport. When we try to get to the airport, we either get beaten up or we are afraid for our lives.'
Fatima said she, like many others, has contacted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the United States government asking for assistance, only to be told officials would 'likely 'escalate' the situation on the ground'.
However, she fears help cannot come quick enough.
'This needs to get better and this needs to get better faster because we are running out of time,' she said.
'Our lives are in extreme danger and I don't know how long it's going to continue. [The Taliban] are going to people's homes at night and they are just taking them away.'
Fatima, whose two children remain stateside, says the evacuation process has lacked guidance, noting that there is 'a lot of miscommunication going on'.
'Imagine being stranded in the situation like this and not receiving anything for three, four days from U.S. embassy or the State Department,' Fatima explained.
'And then they're saying to go to the airport, but we're not being given clear guidance. They are saying one thing and the next day they come and say something else. So you really exactly don't know what to do.'
A military plane takes off from the airport on Monday. Washington pulled off its biggest haul of evacuations since the crisis started over the last 24 hours to early Tuesday morning, with 37 military jets evacuating 21,600 people from Kabul
The Taliban, whose fighters are pictured above in a vehicle patrol the streets of Kabul on Monday, is refusing to extend the evacuation deadline
Fatima does not know if she will make it out of Afghanistan or see her children again.
'I can't talk to my kids [on the phone] anymore because I don't know, it makes my fear worse,' she said.
'I am afraid for my life. … I don't know, you know, how things are going to go. But I really need — I really need our president to really consider this serious.'
Biden joined other G7 leaders on a virtual call Tuesday morning for an emergency meeting on Afghanistan amid intense pressure from NATO and world leaders for the U.S. to keep their troops on the ground and prevent a humanitarian disaster.
However, the president has since accepted a Pentagon recommendation to remove U.S. troops from Afghanistan by an Aug. 31 deadline. Biden also asked for contingency plans to stay longer, should it be necessary.
The Pentagon recommendation reflects increasing security concerns at the Kabul airport, where American citizens and at-risk Afghans are being evacuated.
Washington is telling the Taliban the Aug. 31 deadline is contingent on the group's cooperation in facilitating evacuations.
The Pentagon has told Biden the risks to American forces are too high if they defy the Taliban. It means troops will have to abandon the humanitarian operation and start focusing on their own exit plan as soon as tomorrow.
The president said last week that he will keep U.S. forces in Afghanistan past
