[Townhall] During Thursday's press briefing at the Pentagon, General Hank Taylor and Press Secretary John Kirby provided an update on the airlift of Americans and Afghan allies out of Kabul before taking questions on the Biden administration's handling of the withdrawal from Afghanistan. General Taylor reported that in the last 24 hours, the U.S. military footprint grew to number more than 5,200 total troops on the ground at Kabul's Hamid Karzai International Airport and that additional gates for entry to the airfield were opened while the airport remains open and secure.
He also reported that 13 C-17 transport planes had arrived at HKIA with additional troops and equipment and 12 C-17s departed with evacuees.
When asked by Fox News' Jennifer Griffin about how planes conducting the airlift were being fueled, Taylor and Kirby refused to deny whether the United States was buying from the Taliban.
"The assets on KHIA, on the airfield, are what we need to maintain the operations, all operations to support the mission," Taylor responded without answering the question.
Griffin pushed, asking "so that's a no — you're not buying fuel from the Taliban?"
Taylor stepped back from the podium and Kirby stepped in. "There's- um- plenty of fuel sustainment capability at Hamid Karzai Airport and as you know Jen, we also have the ability of our- on our own- our logistics ability to fuel our aircraft as needed," he explained without denying that the U.S. was paying the Taliban for fuel.
And 10% for the Big Guy