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Updated September 4th, 2021 at 14:43 IST

US in 'constant touch' with stranded Americans in Afghanistan: Antony Blinken

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the country is in constant touch with American citizens stranded in Afghanistan and still wish to leave.

Reported by: Anurag Roushan
Antony Blinken
Image Credits: AP | Image:self
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Days after the United States ended its military involvement in Afghanistan, Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday, September 3, said that the US is still monitoring the situation by being in "constant touch" with American citizens stranded in Afghanistan and still wish to leave the country, according to ANI.

"We are in regular contact with Americans who remain in Afghanistan and wish to leave... Our new team is working in Qatar and we have assigned a management team to evacuate the people," added Blinken.

He further went on to say that the US continues to maintain channels of communication with the Taliban on its commitment to allow people to leave the war-torn country if they wish to, reported ANI. At this time of crisis, helping Afghans is the topmost priority for the United States, Blinken further added.    

UN resumes humanitarian flights to Afghanistan 

Meanwhile, the United Nations resumed humanitarian flights on Friday to deliver relief supplies to Afghanistan. In a media briefing, UN spokesperson Stefan Dujarrik had said that although the Afghan capital Kabul is still inaccessible by air, efforts are on to strengthen the humanitarian operations by increasing the number of flights as soon as possible.

According to Al Jazeera, Qatar's Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said that the country has taken up the matter of reopening the Hamid Karzai International Airport with the Taliban. Earlier on Tuesday, August 31, Blinken acknowledged Qatar's efforts and thanked Foreign Minister Thani for assisting with the safe transit of evacuees from Afghanistan. The US Department of State also stated that Blinken discussed several other key bilateral efforts to advance US-Qatar ties, reported ANI.  

UN chief urges nations to help Afghanistan

It should be mentioned here that a day before the US troops left Afghanistan, Blinken in an interview with ABC 'This Week' had informed that about 300 US citizens were still remaining in Afghanistan who wished to leave the country. He had also spoken about the risk involved in the evacuation operation over the next few days. Blinken further informed that he met US President Joe Biden and military commanders and stated that this was the "dangerous time" in the mission. According to The Associated Press (AP), the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also expressed grave concerns at the growing crisis in Afghanistan and urged nations to come forward and help the people in the war-ravaged country as they are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance to survive. 

Image Credits: AP

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Published September 4th, 2021 at 14:43 IST

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