US Reportedly Gave Taliban Names Of Americans, Afghan Allies They Want To Evacuate — Biden Didn’t Deny Report
US officials currently on the ground in Kabul, have reportedly furnished the Taliban with the names of American citizens, green card holders and Afghan allies that it wants to evacuate — a move strongly criticized by the public, but something that the Biden administration deemed necessary to speed up the evacuation process in the country.
In a media briefing, President Joe Biden also did not deny the report and admitted that “there may have been” a list of names handed over to the Taliban to be permitted access into the outer perimeter of the airport, currently held with Taliban checkpoints.
Politico reported that three US and congressional officials provided it with the said information, which was meant to hasten the evacuation of US citizens and allies from Afghanistan as the August 31 deadline to fully withdraw American presence in the country nears.
The Taliban took control of Afghanistan shortly after the Biden administration announced the withdrawal of American troops. On August 15, the militants seized control of Kabul with little to no resistance — leaving the US scrambling with its evacuation.
“Kill list”
“Basically, they just put all those Afghans on a kill list,” a defense official reportedly told Politico. “It’s just appalling and shocking and makes you feel unclean.”
The outlet noted that after Kabul fell into the hands of the Taliban, the “joint US military and diplomatic coordination team supplied the Taliban with names of individuals” that the US wanted to evacuate.
The said list reportedly contained names of American citizens, dual citizens, as well as lawful permanent residents of America. It also includes names of Afghans who worked with America amid the war that sought special immigrant visas to the US.
The Taliban was earlier reported to be hunting Afghans who have worked with the US and NATO forces over the years.
Fears grow of Taliban revenge.
The Taliban are going house-to-house searching for people who worked with US and NATO forces, according to intelligence report for UN. Report also says militants are screening people trying to get to Kabul airporthttps://t.co/S2kmDkxqvM pic.twitter.com/ARjRNtrn4f
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) August 20, 2021
“They had to do that because of the security situation the White House created by allowing the Taliban to control everything outside the airport,” one US official told Politico.
“But after thousands of visa applicants arrived at the airport, overwhelming the capacity of the US to process them, the State Department changed course — asking the applicants not to come to the airport and instead requesting they wait until they were cleared for entry. From then on, the list fed to the Taliban didn’t include those Afghan names,” the outlet added, noting that as of August 25 only US passport holders and green card holders are eligible for evacuation.
Biden didn’t deny such list
President Biden was later on asked about the reported list — to which he responded that he wasn’t sure of such a list, but also didn’t deny that “sometimes” the US hands over names to the Taliban to expedite evacuation.
“There have been occasions when our military has contacted their military counterparts in the Taliban and said this, for example, this bus is coming through with X number of people on it, made up of the following group of people. We want you to let that bus or that group through,” Biden said. “So, yes there have been occasions like that. To the best of my knowledge, in those cases, the bulk of that has occurred and they have been let through.”
Biden added: “I can’t tell you with any certitude that there’s actually been a list of names,” the Democratic chief executive added. “There may have been. But I know of no circumstance. It doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist, that here’s the names of 12 people, they’re coming, let them through. It could very well have happened.”
But the situation in Kabul has significantly worsened on Thursday following multiple attacks near the Hamid Karzai International Airport where evacuations of US forces, allies and Afghans are taking place to flee the largely Taliban-controlled country.
At least 13 US servicemen and 60 Afghans were killed from the suicide bombings and many others left injured — in what is now tagged as the deadliest day of conflict since 2011.
The Biden administration said the attacks were carried out by “ISIS fighters.”
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