Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday that the US is on track to complete its mission in Afghanistan by Aug 31, provided the Taliban continue to cooperate, and there are no disruptions.
“But let me be clear, there’s no deadline on our work to help remaining U.S. citizens and Afghan partners who decide they want to leave to do so”, he added.
The U.S. and other governments plan to continue assisting Afghans and Americans who want to leave after next Tuesday, the deadline for Biden’s planned end to the evacuation and the two-decade U.S. military role in Afghanistan. “That effort will continue, every day, past Aug. 31,” he said.
As many as 1,500 Americans remain in Afghanistan, Blinken said today.
Blinken estimated that roughly 6,000 US citizens were in Afghanistan on August 14, before the Taliban took control of Kabul, and 4,500 Americans have since been evacuated. The state department is in contact with another 500 Americans about leaving the country, and US officials are “aggressively” reaching out to the remaining 1,000 or so. Blinken emphasized there is “no deadline” for evacuating Americans out of Afghanistan, even as the US military looks to wrap up its mission by August 31.
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