Antony Blinken says 300 American citizens yet to be evacuated from Afghanistan amid crisis

As the evacuation missions inch closer to the deadline in Afghanistan, US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken in an interview with ABC 'This Week' said, "This is the most dangerous time in an already extraordinary dangerous mission, these last couple of days." Blinken also informed that there were about 300 US citizens remaining in Afghanistan who wished to leave the war-ravaged country. Furthermore, he said that they were making every effort to keep people safe.

About 300 US citizens remaining in Afghanistan 

Blinken informed that about 300 Americans who were remaining in Afghanistan wanted to leave the war-torn country. He assured that they were "actively working" to evacuate American citizens from Afghanistan. He also spoke about the risk involved in the evacuation operation over the next few days. Blinken informed that he met US President Joe Biden and military commanders and stated that this was the "dangerous time" in the mission. He further assured that they were doing everything possible to keep people safe. 

Blinken pointed out that the countries across the world were expecting that the Taliban will allow the people to travel beyond August 31. He further said that the US was working with other countries in the region to either keep the Kabul Airport functional after August 31 or take required steps to "reopen it in a timely fashion." In order to help people who wanted to leave the war-torn country after August 31, they were having the necessary tools in place for the facilitation of people.

Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, has assured people that the United States has the capacity to evacuate approximately 300 US citizens remaining in Afghanistan. Sullivan further mentioned that the United States was not having any plan to have an ongoing embassy presence after the complete withdrawal of US troops. Furthermore, Sullivan pledged support to the people and informed them that they will assure the safe passage of "American citizen, any legal permanent citizen and those Afghans who helped us" after Tuesday. 

"We have the capacity to have 300 Americans, which is roughly the number we think are remaining, come to the airport and get on planes in the time that is remaining. We moved out more than that number just yesterday. So from our point of view, there is an opportunity right now for American citizens to come, to be admitted to the airport and to be evacuated safely and effectively", AP quoted Sullivan as saying.

IMAGE: AP

Inputs from AP