US rushes more troops to calm chaotic evacuation in Kabul

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military is sending another battalion of about 1,000 troops to help safeguard the Kabul airport, where American forces killed two armed people during increasingly chaotic evacuation efforts as the Taliban take control of Afghanistan.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby briefed reporters Monday on the additional deployments aimed at bringing a semblance of order to the evacuations.

Separately, one of America’s top military commanders has met face-to-face with senior leaders of the Taliban, urging the longtime U.S. enemy not to interfere with the massive airport evacuation as the United States withdraws from Afghanistan, a U.S. official told The Associated Press.

Gen. Frank McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command, warned the Taliban officials that the U.S. military would respond forcefully to defend the airport if necessary, the official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive talks not yet announced publicly.

McKenzie’s session Sunday in Doha, Qatar, the base for long-running talks among senior Taliban political officials, Americans and others, underscored the swift rise in power of the Taliban, America’s opponent in 20 years of fighting, after a weeklong push in which the group captured control of Afghanistan.

Robert Burns And Ellen Knickmeyer, The Associated Press