Pentagon says 7,000 civilians have been evacuated from Afghanistan

There are now about 5,200 US troops at the airport, a number that has been steadily increasing in recent days.

The Pentagon (Charles Dharapak/AP)

The US military is ramping up evacuations out of Afghanistan, and that 7,000 civilians have been taken out of the country since August 14, the Pentagon said.

Army Major General Hank Taylor told reporters that 12 C-17 aircraft departed with 2,000 evacuees over the past 24 hours.