Up to 15,000 Americans remain in Afghanistan after Taliban takeover
As many as 15,000 Americans remain in Afghanistan after the Taliban's takeover of the country, Biden administration officials told Senate staffers Tuesday, two aides said.
"The Taliban have informed us that they are prepared to provide the safe passage of civilians to the airport, and we intend to hold them to that commitment," national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters Tuesday at the White House.
"We are getting people through the gate, we are getting them lined up, and we are getting them on planes, but this is an hour-by-hour issue," he said.
Senate staffers at the briefing said they were told that the administration doesn't have a plan to evacuate U.S. citizens outside Kabul because of Taliban checkpoints, the two aides said.
The U.S. government said Monday that it was prepared to take more than 20,000 Afghans who are candidates for Special Immigrant Visas, or SIVs, with them to U.S. bases.
By Tuesday night, about 1,100 U.S. citizens, permanent residents and their families had been evacuated on 13 flights, U.S. officials said.
