85 Americans have left Afghanistan since the United States completed its withdrawal

WASHINGTON – A commercial flight carrying 21 Americans and 48 lawful permanent residents of the United States left Kabul, Afghanistan over the weekend, the State Department confirmed on Monday.

In total, at least 85 US citizens and 79 lawful permanent residents have left Afghanistan since the US ended a massive humanitarian evacuation and completed the withdrawal of its troops in August, according to State Department figures. .

“We are grateful to the Qatari authorities, who continue to coordinate these flights with the Taliban,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said on Monday. The Biden administration is still working to help U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents and vulnerable Afghans leave, Price added.

The Taliban’s rapid takeover of Afghanistan last month sparked a chaotic effort by the United States and its allies to force its citizens and vulnerable Afghans out of the country. As of August 31, approximately 125,000 people, including approximately 6,000 US citizens and their families, had been evacuated from the country.

However, not everyone was able to get by on time. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told lawmakers last week that around 100 U.S. citizens are still seeking evacuation from Afghanistan.

Blinken blamed the Trump administration for America’s chaotic exit from its longest war, saying, “We inherited a deadline; we didn’t inherit a plan.”

“There had not been a single interview under the Special Immigrant Visa program in Kabul for nine months, dating back to March 2020. The program was essentially at an impasse,” Blinken said on September 13.

“We made the right decision in ending America’s longest war, we made the right decision in not sending a third generation of Americans to fight and die in Afghanistan,” Blinken said.

President Joe Biden has defended his decision to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan, despite the Taliban takeover. Biden was forced to order the temporary deployment of thousands of US troops to Kabul to help with the evacuation efforts last month.

Thirteen US servicemen and dozens of Afghans died in an ISIS-K suicide bombing at Kabul airport during the evacuation. A subsequent US drone strike in Kabul killed up to 10 civilians in what the Pentagon described as a tragic mistake.