U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price faced questions on the current situation in Afghanistan during a news briefing Thursday, after the Taliban seized power of Kabul on Sunday as foreign forces withdrew following a two-decades-long war.

The United States and other Western powers are pressing on with evacuations of their nationals and some of their Afghan staff from Kabul airport, where about 8,000 people have been flown out since Sunday, a Western security official said.

Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said Wednesday that in the previous 24 hours, U.S. military flights had evacuated approximately 2,000 more people.

The Pentagon is also aiming to evacuate up to 22,000 Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) applicants, their families, and other at-risk people.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters Wednesday there were around 4,500 U.S. military personnel in Kabul and that there "have been no hostile interactions with the Taliban and our lines of communication with Taliban commanders remain open."

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