Biden Sticks to Afghan Deadline, Resisting Pleas to Extend Evacuation

The American withdrawal coincided with a threat by the Taliban to stop Afghans from traveling to the airport, an ominous sign that the window may be slamming shut for thousands of people desperate to leave.

President Biden said Tuesday that the United States intended to withdraw completely from Afghanistan at the end of the month as planned, rebuffing pleas from Britain, France and other NATO allies to keep troops in Kabul and hastening the end of a frantic evacuation that has become a grim coda to two decades of war. Even as Mr. Biden spoke from the White House, officials said the United States had already begun to reduce its military presence at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, sending about 300 of the 5,800 Marines and soldiers home in anticipation of the conclusion of their rescue mission within a week. “The sooner we can finish, the better,” the president said, hours after informing world leaders of his intentions during an emergency virtual meeting. Citing the threat from an Islamic State affiliate known as ISIS-K and operating in Afghanistan, he said that “every day we’re on the ground is another day we know that ISIS-K is seeking to target the airport, attack both U.S. and allied forces and innocent civilians.”