US committed to receiving dozens of Americans from Afghanistan: Blinken – WorldNews WAALI

WASHINGTON: The United States is working to assist 44 Americans who want to leave Afghanistan and several others held by Taliban authorities, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said on Thursday.

Blinken spoke in Congress as lawmakers from the opposition Republican party clashed over the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan in 2021 and asked the State Department to release internally divided cables.

Responding to a question, Blinken said Taliban authorities were detaining “several Americans.”

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“We are working hard to ensure their freedom. Their families have asked us to protect their identities, and they have not spoken publicly about their case,” Blinken said.

Despite a poor relationship with the Taliban rulers, the United States has been quietly trying to help American citizens who wish to leave.

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Since the Taliban took over, the State Department has helped leave about 975 U.S. citizens and about 175 who say they are Americans remain in the country, including some who have arrived since the U.S. troop withdrawal, Blinken said.

Taliban demand U.S. return $3.5 billion in Afghan assets after court ruling

“44 of them are ready to leave and we’re working hard to implement their departure,” Blinken said.

A spokesperson for the US State Department later stated that the 975 people were only Americans traveling with government facilitation, and that other US citizens and permanent residents had left on their own.

Rep. Mike McCall, the incoming Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, referred to the Aug. 26, 2021, attack outside Kabul airport as U.S.-led forces scrambled to evacuate U.S. citizens and Afghan allies.

The attack claimed by the Islamic State-Khorasan group killed 13 US troops and about 170 Afghan civilians.

McCall gave Blinken a deadline on Monday to turn over a copy of the widely reported divided cables from U.S. diplomats who presciently warned that the Afghan government would suffer as the U.S. pulls out. Crashes quickly. step back.

McCall addressed the mother of a Marine who was killed in the attack, promising action “until people are held accountable.”

“I’m not going to rest until we have answers, and we will, even if we have to go all the way up the chain of command to do that,” McCall said.

Blinken promised to cooperate in providing information, but said he would only share the objection cable in its entirety with senior State Department officials.

“This tradition of having outlets for dissent is valued in the department and goes back decades. It’s a unique way for anyone in the department to speak truth to the power they see ,” Blinken said.

Blinken said he wanted to “protect the integrity of the process to make sure we don’t have a chilling effect on people who might want to come forward knowing their identities will be protected and they can speak without fear or favoritism.” Next do it again.” “