US military base now seized by Taliban 4:47
(CNN) -
President Joe Biden announced the authorization of an additional direct deployment of 1,000 troops to Afghanistan in a statement Saturday.
Biden said he authorized the deployment "to ensure that we can have an orderly and safe departure of American and other allied personnel, and an orderly and safe evacuation of Afghans who assisted our troops during our mission and those at special risk by the Taliban advance ".
Everything you need to know about Afghanistan, the "tomb of empires"
Biden's authorization of 5,000 soldiers in his statement Saturday included 1,000 already on the ground in the country, according to a defense official.
A battalion of 1,000 soldiers from the 82nd Brigade (Airborne) was redirected to Kabul, instead of its original reserve position in Kuwait.
The Pentagon previously announced that there were 3,000 additional troops on the way, the defense official said.
The 82nd Brigade (Airborne) troops redirected to Kabul were originally to be part of up to 4,000 troops from the same division going to Kuwait, to be used if necessary.
The bulk of the troops are expected to arrive in Kabul by the end of the weekend.
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This is how Kabul stands before the Taliban advance in Afghanistan 3:05
Afghanistan Taliban