Pentagon Says 5,400 Americans Evacuated as Mission Wraps Up in Afghanistan

The Pentagon said Monday that about 5,400 Americans were evacuated from Afghanistan out of more than 122,000 evacuees, as it wraps up its evacuation mission by the end of the month.

“More than 122,000 — including 4,500 Americans — have been evacuated from Afghanistan,” said Army Maj. Gen. Hank Taylor at a Pentagon briefing on Monday.

The evacuation mission was scheduled to end on August 31, with numerous reports of Americans still stuck in Afghanistan and trying to get out.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki, during a press conference later in the day, said about 6,000 self-identifying Americans have evacuated, and that the number would likely grow as the State Department continues to assess who evacuated.

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said the State Department would continue to work on getting Americans out of Afghanistan after the U.S. military departs:

For Americans and other individuals that want to be able to leave Afghanistan after our withdrawal is complete, the State Department is going to continue to work across many different levers to facilitate that transportation. Right now, we do not anticipate a military role in that effort.

He also said the Pentagon does not know how many of the 122,000 evacuated are Afghans who worked for the U.S. military or other U.S. agencies in Afghanistan, only saying the “vast majority” are Afghan.

“We know that roughly 5,400 of the 122,000 are American citizens and the vast majority, of course, are Afghan, and I just don’t have a breakdown of that,” he said.

The Pentagon said on Friday it can temporarily house and sustain as many as 50,000 Afghan Special Immigrant Visa applicants, their families, and other “at-risk individuals.”

The Biden administration has authorized seven U.S. military bases in the U.S. to take in the evacuees:

— Marine Corps Base Quantico;
— Fort Pickett;
— Holloman Air Force Base;
— Fort Lee;
— Fort McCoy;
— Fort Bliss; and
— Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst.

 

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