US creates task force to ID Americans in Afghanistan

US State Department officials say a task force has been set up to assist "locating and offering guidance to any US citizen who may be present in Afghanistan and who wishes to depart" along with locating and identifying Afghans, SIVs and others. In addition Secretary of State Antony Blinken says 13 countries have thus far agreed to at least temporarily host at-risk Afghans evacuated from Afghanistan and a dozen more have agreed to serve as transit points for evacuees, including Americans and others.

Blinken says in a Friday statement that potential Afghan refugees not already cleared for resettlement in the United States will be housed at facilities in Albania, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Chile, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Mexico, Poland, Qatar, Rwanda, Ukraine and Uganda. Transit countries include Bahrain, Britain, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Qatar, Tajikistan, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Uzbekistan.

President Joe Biden is pledging to evacuate any American currently in Afghanistan who wants to come home. Biden made the promise on Friday as he provided an update on the tense situation in Afghanistan. The president has been under mounting pressure over his decisions in Afghanistan, which led to the Taliban completely taking over the country on Sunday.

Thousands of Americans, Afghans are clamoring to leave, and chaotic scenes have unfolded at Kabul's international airport. President Joe Biden says his administration is also committed to evacuating Afghans who assisted the United States during its 20-year war in Afghanistan. Biden spoke at a White House press conference on Friday, vowing to evacuate every American still in Afghanistan who wants to get out. Biden's said no American citizens who want to leave the country will be left behind.

Biden was asked whether all Afghan allies will be evacuated. He responded, "Yes. We're making the same commitment" to evacuate Afghan allies as has been made to Americans in Afghanistan. The exact number of Afghans who qualify for evacuation is not clear, but it is believed to number in the tens of thousands.