According to a State Department official, four additional Americans have successfully departed Afghanistan, taking an overland route with the permission of the Taliban in charge.
Despite the fact that the Taliban rebels who now control Afghanistan have prohibited air flights bringing more Americans and Afghans who wish to leave, a senior State Department official claimed the Taliban did not obstruct the four persons' passage and were aware of their departure.
The operation was disclosed soon before Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited in Doha to praise Qatari officials for their aid in acting as a first departure stop for hundreds of Americans and Afghans fleeing Kabul in late August.
“We have facilitated the safe departure of four Americans via overland route,” the official said,after crossing the Afghan border, the inpiduals were hailed by embassy employees.
However, the source did not specify which countries they passed through during the first overland evacuation, which was coordinated by the State Department. Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Pakistan border Afghanistan.
Following a stop in Qatar, Blinken will travel to Germany for discussions with key US allies as the nearly two-decade-long US war in Afghanistan comes to an end last week.
“Departing for Doha, Qatar, and Ramstein, Germany, where I’ll have the opportunity to thank our Qatari and German friends in person for the outstanding support they’ve given to safely transit U.S. citizens, Afghans, and other evacuees from Afghanistan,” Blinken tweeted late Sunday.
Following the Taliban takeover of Kabul last month, Qatar was a vital conduit for the large US airlift out of Kabul and a first point of landing for thousands of Afghan refugees.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is also visiting US friends in the Middle East to express gratitude for their assistance in the Afghan evacuations. Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia are among his stops.
“I’m on my way to the (Persian) Gulf to personally thank our partners there for supporting the Afghanistan evacuation effort. Operation ALLIED REFUGE would not have been possible with our friends in the Gulf. Their support saved lives,” Austin tweeted Sunday.
Blinken told reporters on Friday that while in Germany, he plans to visit the US Air Force Base in Ramstein to thank the troops and meet with Afghan refugees.
Blinken also announced that he and German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas will co-chair a virtual 20-nation ministerial meeting on Afghanistan on Wednesday.
The 20 countries, he said, “all have a stake in helping to relocate and resettle Afghans and in holding the Taliban to their commitments."
The Taliban have vowed to provide safe passage to Afghans and others who wish to leave the country, but many Afghans are sceptical of the Taliban's promises. Officials in Afghanistan said four prospective Afghan refugee flights have been halted at the airport in Mazar-e-Sharif, while U.S. Congressman Michael McCaul informed the “Fox News Sunday” show that six planes, including some carrying Americans, had been halted.
Blinken justified the US withdrawal from Afghanistan in his speech on Friday, stating that only a tiny number of American citizens remain in the country and that the State Department is in contact with them all. On Sunday, White House chief of staff Ron Klain told CNN that roughly 100 Americans remain in Afghanistan, but McCaul claimed that “hundreds of Americans” remain.
Blinken stated that the US is dedicated to supporting any American who wishes to leave, as well as Special Immigrant Visa applicants and those Afghans who assisted the US during its 20-year war in the nation.
Republican senators, human rights organisations, and others have chastised the Biden administration for its handling of the Afghan exodus after the Taliban took control of Kabul on August 15.
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