- About 1,000 individuals, including Americans, have been stranded in Afghanistan for days, according to an organiser who blamed the US State Department for the delay in getting authorization for their charter flights to leave the country, Reuters reports.
On August 15, after Western-backed government collapsed, the Taliban seized power in Kabul, sparking a chaotic US troop retreat.
A frustrated organiser claimed the State Department had neglected to notify or validate a landing location for flights departing from the international airport in Mazar-i-Sharif, a city in northern Afghanistan.
As the organiser explained, “They need to be held accountable for putting the lives of these people at jeopardy.”
Reuters was unable to independently verify the account’s details.
Unnamed U.S. officials disputed the notion that Americans were in danger, stating that the U.S. government “has not confirmed any Americans are in Mazar-i-Sharif seeking to depart via the airport.”
State Department spokeswoman would not answer specific allegations about charter flights, but emphasised that the United States lacked reliable tools to authenticate basic details of charter flights because it did not have staff on-site.
To do so, they need to confirm the number of U.S. citizens and others aboard, as well as “where they aim to arrive.”
It was also stated that, “We will hold the Taliban accountable for their promise to allow people to leave Afghanistan freely.”
“Fox News Sunday” reported earlier that six aeroplanes with Americans and Afghan translators aboard were detained at Mazar-i-Sharif airport because they had not acquired Taliban authorization.
Multiple individuals who spoke to Reuters on the condition of anonymity rejected his claim that the Taliban were holding passengers “as hostages for demands.”
Representative Mike Waltz, a Republican, called on the State Department to engage with non-government groups to clear charter planes to remove Americans and Afghans in danger.
Charter flights were “available, paid, and ready” to fly people out, Waltz said in his letter to Antony Blinken, citing comments from multiple non-governmental organisations.
