Daily US Times: US President Joe Biden has authorized an additional direct deployment of 1,000 troops to Afghanistan. Mr Biden said about the authorization in a statement Saturday.

Biden said he authorized the deployment of the US forces to safely evacuate Americans and Afghans who helped US forces during their mission and those at special risk from the Taliban advance.

According to a defense official, the president’s authorization of 5,000 troops in his Saturday statement included 1,000 who are already on the ground in Afghanistan.

A battalion of 1,000 troops from the 82nd Airborne Division were redirected to Afghanistan’s capital Kabul, instead of their original standby position in Kuwait.

The US defence officials said the Pentagon had previously announced 3,000 additional troops were on their way.

The 82nd Airborne troops redirected to Afghanistan were originally going to be part of up to 4,000 troops from the same division going to Kuwait on standby, to be used if needed.

The bulk of troops are expected in Afghanistan by the end of the weekend.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley will brief all members of the US House of Representatives on Sunday on Afghanistan.

The virtual briefing comes after Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House, requested an update from the Biden administration about the worsening situation in Afghanistan.

It comes as the Taliban aggressively taking more control in Afghanistan.

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