According to ABC News, all local Afghan officials at the U.S. embassy in Kabul and their families have been successfully evacuated as of Saturday night.
According to an internal report obtained by ABC News, about 2,800 Afghans have left Kabul airport as of 8:30 pm ET on Saturday.
The State Department could not comment when it reached The Hill.
A State Department internal cable sent last week said officials at the local Afghan embassy were “deeply discouraged” by the evacuation operations. The cable transmitted reports that Taliban fighters had been harassed, spat upon and cursed by personnel at checkpoints.
“Our local staff and their families have suffered hardship, pain and loss due to their dedication to working with us to build a better future for all Afghans. We have a special commitment to them for this,” he told The Hill a State Department spokesman at the time.
After taking power, the Taliban promised to show amnesty to Afghans working with Western-backed governments. However, reports soon emerged of Taliban fighters looking for homes to find Western allies and threatening the lives of their families. The Taliban have denied the reports, with a spokesman calling them “all the fake news.”
The internal report obtained by ABC News also said that US facilities are rapidly overflowing as Fort Lee approaches and Dulles International Airport in Washington, DC, struggles to process all arrivals. .
During a press briefing on Friday, State Department spokesman Ned Price confirmed that most local Afghan employees and their families had been evacuated from Kabul.
On Sunday, the State Department said there are about 250 Americans in Afghanistan still trying to leave the country. Some may already be at Hamid Karzai International Airport or on their way.
Last week two suicide bombers attacked the airport with explosives and killed 13 members of the US service and at least 160 Afghans. On Saturday, the U.S. embassy in Kabul issued a security alert to warn Americans of leaving the airport due to a “specific and credible threat.”
President Biden
Joe BidenUS tells Americans to leave Kabul airport “immediately” and “credible” threat “Britain and France will propose a safe zone in Kabul for people trying to flee Afghanistan he also said on Saturday that officials had informed him that another attack in the coming days was “highly likely”.