Biden orders 1,000 more troops to aid Afghanistan departure

By ROBERT BURNS and JOSH BOAK
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has authorized an additional 1,000 U.S. troops for deployment to Afghanistan. That raises to roughly 5,000 the number of U.S. troops deployed to ensure what Biden is calling an “orderly and safe drawdown” of American and allied personnel. U.S. troops will also help in the evacuation of Afghans who worked with the military during the nearly two-decade war. In a sign of fears that the Taliban could soon capture Kabul, U.S. Embassy personnel have been urgently destroying sensitive documents. That’s according to two U.S. military officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to discuss the situation.