The desperate remained outside, some standing knee-deep in sewage and waving identity documents at Western soldiers in hopes of being allowed to go beyond the barbed wire fencing and onto a flight out.
While the final withdrawal date just under a week away, analyst Patricia Lewis said the practical deadline for the evacuations to stop was ‘the next couple of days.’
‘There’s a huge amount of stuff that has to be done, including getting all the people out who are doing the job and all the equipment,’ said Lewis, who is the director of the international security program at Chatham House, an international think tank.
‘All of the allies are highly dependent on the US for military cover, particularly air cover,’ Lewis said.
‘They can’t put their own people at risk, so it really depends on when the US starts packing up.’