CNN Report: Just Under 250 Americans Remaining in Afghanistan Who Want to Evacuate
There are just under 250 Americans remain in Afghanistan who want to evacuate, according to a CNN report on Monday, citing a senior State Department official.
This report comes as all U.S. forces have evacuated from Afghanistan following an almost-20-year war that began shortly after 9/11.
CNN senior national security correspondent Alex Marquardt said on The Lead With Jake Tapper:
The State Department is saying that they have been in touch with those Americans whether it’s by email, by phone, by text. They say there are fewer than 250 Americans who remain who have expressed some sort of desire to get out. But, Jake, that’s the same figure that we heard yesterday. So very few have gotten out in the past 24 hours. Now on top of that, there are some 280 Americans believed to still be in the country who have not said that they want to leave. That could be for a number of reasons. They may be dual citizens. They may have extended families who they want to stay with. But I asked this senior State Department official if this effectively means that there will be Americans will be left behind after the U.S. military and diplomatic presence is gone, and the response was that the military is doing all it can while it still has time to get those Americans out.
All told, Jake, some 6,000 Americans have made their way out, whether it’s on those evacuation flights or otherwise like land borders into neighboring countries. That is just a small fraction of the around 120,000 people who have been evacuated. The vast majority of whom are Afghans. Jake, on top of the Americans, of course, we’ve been talking about those so-called SIVs, the Special Immigrant Visa either holders or applicants. There is no specific number the State Department says of those people who are left in Afghanistan. And then of course there are many, many more who are trying to apply for some sort of refugee status in the United States who are in danger who will almost certainly be left behind after the U.S. departs. Now, the State Department and the Biden administration have been clear. They say that these efforts to get these people out will not end with the American presence.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken is scheduled to speak on Monday at 5 p.m. ET.
Watch above, via CNN.
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