President Joe Biden has said he will "mobilize every resource necessary" in order to pull Americans out of Afghanistan.
Speaking from the White House on Friday (August 20), the 78-year-old POTUS declared: "Any American who wants to come home, we will get you home."
However, per CNN, Biden did state that he could not "promise what the final outcome will be", or if the evacuation efforts "will be without risk of loss".
Watch President Biden's speech below:CNN reports that the scene outside Kabul's Hamid Karzai International Airport is becoming "increasingly desperate", as hundreds, possibly thousands, of Afghan civilians attempt to flee the country following the Taliban's takeover of the capital city on Sunday.
As reported by CNBC, the Taliban entered the presidential palace and declared the war "over", resulting in President Ashraf Ghani fleeing the country.
Biden said on Friday that the US is now attempting to pull off "one of the largest, most difficult airlifts in history", with the president adding that Afghans who assisted in war efforts would also be evacuated. The US is also working to place journalists, vulnerable women, and other groups on flights out of the country.
"As an American, I offer my gratitude to the brave men and women of the US armed forces who are carrying out this mission. They're incredible," Biden added.
Pentagon press secretary John Kirby also said on Friday that US forces had utilized helicopters to rescue 169 Americans from a hotel near the Hamid Karzai International Airport.
Biden's comments come after he told ABC News' George Stephanopoulos earlier this week that he couldn't see a way of withdrawing US forces from Afghanistan "without chaos ensuing".
And despite facing backlash for his decision to pull out of the country, Biden stood by his decision on Monday, saying: "American troops cannot and should not be fighting in a war and dying in a war that Afghan forces are not willing to fight for themselves."
The President then spoke about Afghanistan's political leadership, saying: "We spent over a trillion dollars. We trained and equipped an Afghan military force of some 300,000 strong — incredibly well equipped — a force larger in size than the militaries of many of our NATO allies.
"We gave them every tool they could need. We paid their salaries, provided for the maintenance of their air force — something the Taliban doesn’t have. Taliban does not have an air force. We provided close air support.
"We gave them every chance to determine their own future. What we could not provide them was the will to fight for that future."
"I will not repeat the mistakes we've made in the past," he added.
Nevertheless, former POTUS Donald Trump has continued to criticize Biden, stating earlier this week that his successor should "resign in disgrace".