[ad_1]
US officials are aware of about 100 American citizens and permanent residents who are still stuck in Afghanistan and ready to leave the country almost a month after the last of the US troops left.
A senior State Department official said the work continued to save her.
“The top priority remains helping US citizens who want to leave the country now,” the official told reporters.
The Biden government has been heavily criticized for withdrawing troops from Afghanistan and triggering a chaotic evacuation of civilians.
Veteran-led groups trying to save Americans and Afghan allies question State Department numbers and say they believe well over 100 US citizens have been left behind.
Jean Marie Thrower of the Afghan Rescue Crew told DailyMail.com that the real number of Americans stranded was 400 to 500.
Many do not want to leave because they are not allowed to take Afghan relatives or the orphaned Afghan children they have adopted with them, she added.
“We can take them to a refugee camp and have them examined, but they shouldn’t be left behind,” she said.
She accused the Biden administration of dragging their feet and letting volunteers help the Americans escape.
“You put these people in a cage with a lion and closed the door,” she said.
Taliban fighters patrol a market in Kabul despite officials say 100 American citizens and U.S. legal permanent representatives remain in the city and are ready to leave
About 124,000 people were flown from Kabul Airport during an urgent evacuation that ended shortly before the last US troops left on the night of August 30
For two weeks, extraordinary images of the Kabul Airlift dominated the media until everything came to a standstill and left thousands of Afghans who had worked with the US military
The evacuation flights have ended, but US officials say they are working to convince the Taliban to allow free movement of Afghans and foreign nationals wishing to leave
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other government officials have been asked repeatedly whether enough has been done to get the remaining Americans home
Approximately 124,000 people were flown out of Kabul before the last US troops were released on Sept.
However, officials struggled to estimate how many Americans and how many residents were unable to leave the country.
At least 85 American citizens and 79 legal permanent residents have made it since then, the official said in a briefing interview with journalists.
However, others refused to leave because family members lacked the documents required to enter the United States, the official added.
Two weeks ago, Secretary of State Antony Blinken informed lawmakers that around 100 US citizens were still trying to evacuate Afghanistan.
The number has gone up and down, compounded by the fact that some do not want to go without relatives.
But veteran-led rescue efforts have said they believe the Counts are underestimating the real number, given that many citizens and green card holders did not register with the U.S. embassy when they traveled to Afghanistan.
The latest announcement suggests there has been slow progress getting the rest home, but the official said: The Foreign Ministry continued to try to convince the Taliban to reopen Kabul Airport to commercial traffic.
“In all of our interactions and communications with the Taliban, whether direct or indirect, we continue to emphasize that one of our top priorities … freedom of movement and safe passage for our citizens, our legal residents and a number of Afghans,” the official said.
After the country’s sudden collapse on August 14 in the face of a Taliban attack, 5,500 US citizens were involved in the mammoth evacuation of around 124,000 people.
The crowd to flee via Kabul airport became fatal on August 26 when a suicide bombing outside its gates killed 13 US soldiers and 169 Afghan civilians.
When the evacuation ended on August 30, hundreds of Americans and thousands more Afghans working for the US military or coalition partners remained in the country despite horror stories of Taliban’s brutality spreading.
Taliban guard on 15.
Eyewitnesses reported last week how Taliban gunmen hanged the bodies of suspected kidnappers in four squares in the Afghan city of Herat after they had killed them in a shooting.
Wazir Ahmad Seddiqi, who runs a pharmacy off the main square in Herat, said four bodies were brought into the square and hung from a crane.
He said three bodies had been moved to other places in the city in western Afghanistan for display a return to some of the Taliban’s earlier methods.
Mullah Nooruddin Turabi, one of the founders of the Taliban and the main enforcer of its strict interpretation of Islamic law during its last rule in Afghanistan, said the regime will bring back executions and amputations for thieves – although they cannot take place in public.
He told the Associated Press in Kabul: “Everyone criticized us for the stadium penalties, but we never said anything about their laws or their penalties.
“Nobody will tell us what our laws should be. We will follow Islam and make our laws according to the Koran. ‘
The Taliban have ordered hairdressers across the country to “stop following American styles” and warn of punishment for cutting beards.
“Nobody has the right to complain,” said a statement in Helmand Province, which warned that shaving is not tolerated under Islamic law.
[ad_2]
