The U. S State Department announced that they had discovered another 76 American citizens stuck in Afghanistan in the past week.
In late August, President Joe Biden withdrew U. S. forces from Afghanistan, resulting in a crisis that left hundreds of American citizens waiting idly in the country. Biden says rescuing all American citizens stuck in Afghanistan is a priority. The president told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, “If there’s American citizens left, we’re gonna stay to get them all out.”
Despite Biden’s pledge, there are still U. S. citizens left in the country close to two months later, and the numbers keep fluctuating.
On September 27, a State Department official reported 100 American citizens and lawful permanent residents were left in Afghanistan and ready to leave. The following day, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said “fewer than 100 American citizens” were prepared to go.
On October 18, a spokesman for the department said the range of Americans left in Afghanistan “is somewhere in between 100 and 200.” Last Thursday, CNN reported that the U. S. State Department told congressional staff they were contacting 363 Americans left in Afghanistan. Of those 363 citizens, 176 are ready for departure.
However, on Tuesday, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl testified before the U. S. Senate and reported that those numbers increased since last Thursday…. (Read more)
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