- The United States praised the Taliban for assisting flights from Afghanistan.
- A Qatar Airways charter flight left Kabul with 21 Americans on board.
- It is believed that there are still 100 Americans in Afghanistan.
The United States on Thursday praised the Taliban’s commercial and cooperative spirit in facilitating the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan for the first time since the withdrawal of the United States.
Emily Horne, a spokesman for the National Security Council, said Thursday’s charter flight from Kabul to Doha by Qatar Airways marked a “positive first step” for the new regime.
“The Taliban have been cooperating to assist U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents to take chartered flights from Hong Kong International Airport,” she said in a statement, referring to the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul.
“They have shown flexibility and they have been very pragmatic and professional in our dealings with them.”
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US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a tweet late Thursday that nearly 40 US citizens or permanent residents were invited to board the plane, but only 21 were on board.
“Of course, we would like to see more flights like this,” he said earlier. “We have heard public statements, in fact there may be more.”
“Painful” decision
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The United States has previously stated that more than 100 Americans are believed to remain in Afghanistan after President Joe Biden ended his 20-year military mission in August.
Price said that most Americans who stay in Afghanistan are connected to Afghanistan, and they have to make a “painful” decision about whether to leave. There is no need to make a decision now.
“If they refuse one day, if they change their minds next year or even next year, this opportunity will not expire,” Price said.
The round-the-clock airlift in the last two weeks of the war transported more than 123,000 people, including most Americans in Afghanistan.
Horn said the United States “facilitated” the withdrawal of Americans from Afghanistan on Thursday, and thanked Qatar for its role in this effort.
She said, “We have been working intensively” to ensure a safe takeoff, and this flight was the result of “cautious and arduous diplomacy and engagement.”
The flight took place two days after Secretary of State Anthony Brinken visited Qatar, which was a transit point for about half of the airlifted people from Afghanistan.
Biden and his administration have been severely criticized for allowing Americans to be at the mercy of the Taliban.
Republican Rep. Mike Waltz and Senator Lindsey Graham were fierce critics of the withdrawal, and they welcomed Qatar’s withdrawal.
But they added in a joint statement, “It is inexcusable that the Biden administration allows the terrorist regime to stipulate provisions that allow Americans to leave with their families.”
“The United States does not follow the orders of terrorists,” they said.
The administration of former President Donald Trump reached an agreement with the Taliban to withdraw troops and freeze efforts to allow Afghan allies to immigrate to the United States.
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