As the last U.S. troops withdraw from Afghanistan, U.S. President Joe Biden assured his Afghan counterpart, Ashraf Ghani, yesterday, Friday, of the U.S.’s continued diplomatic and humanitarian support, as the Taliban continue their operations.

In a phone conversation, the two presidents «agreed that the Taliban’s current operations are completely at odds with their claim that they support a negotiated solution to the conflict.».

Biden has announced that the U.S. mission in Afghanistan will end on August 31.

Meanwhile, violence in the war-torn country has escalated rapidly following the announcement of the U.S. troop withdrawal plan in April, with the Taliban launching numerous attacks, seizing provinces and key border crossings, and encircling or advancing toward provincial capitals.

The Taliban control about half of the district centers in Afghanistan, a senior U.S. general said this week, highlighting the rapidly deteriorating security situation.

Biden told Ghani that the U.S. would remain engaged in Afghanistan at the diplomatic level «by supporting a sustainable and just political solution,» the White House announced.

At the same time, the U.S. is preparing to evacuate thousands of Afghans from the country who have applied for special visas, as they face the risk of retaliation from insurgents for having worked for the U.S. government.

The White House announced yesterday that it had released approximately one hundred

Biden assured his Afghan counterpart of continued U.S. support

million dollars to address urgent needs related to refugee and migrant flows caused by the crisis in Afghanistan.

Many Afghans—primarily women and girls who had seen their rights curtailed under the Taliban regime— as well as members of ethnic or religious minorities, have expressed concern about the rapid advance of the insurgents.

The first Afghans to be evacuated from the country along with their families are expected to be transported at the end of the month to Fort Lee, a U.S. military base in Virginia, where they will await final approval of their visas.

Up to 2,500 Afghans may be transferred to this military base, the Pentagon announced on Monday.

Concerns About the Air Force

Meanwhile, during a teleconference with members of the U.S. Congress, a delegation of Afghan lawmakers called on the U.S. to take immediate measures to help maintain Afghan combat aircraft and to provide additional ammunition to the Afghan Air Force.

«The security situation is catastrophic,» Afghan lawmaker Haji Azman Rahmani told reporters, referring to the Taliban attacks.

According to him, one-third of the Afghan Air Force’s 150 aircraft are unable to fly, while there are shortages of guided munitions, which until now have been supplied to the country by the U.S. and NATO.

Guided munitions are essential for delivering precision strikes, which minimize civilian casualties.

«What they're telling us is that it will take time (...) they're talking about about a year,» Rahmani emphasized.

Moreover, as stated by Mir Haider Afzali, chairman of the Afghan Parliament’s Defense Committee, the warplanes cannot fly due to a shortage of spare parts, and because of the COVID-19 pandemic, technicians from abroad cannot be sent to Afghanistan.