DOHA — US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said
Tuesday that the Taliban were making good on promises to let out Afghans as he
heard firsthand concerns on the country's future during a trip to Qatar.
اضافة اعلان
Blinken met Afghan evacuees and US teams processing them on
a two-day visit to
Qatar, the transit point for nearly half of the more than
120,000 people airlifted from Afghanistan since the Taliban's lightning
takeover on August 15.
President Joe Biden has faced mounting pressure from
activists and Republican rivals who say the
Taliban have been preventing
several hundred people, including Americans, from flying out of the northern
city of Mazar-i-Sharif on charter flights scheduled over the past week.
But Blinken said the United States had been in touch again
Tuesday with the Taliban who promised to let Afghans "freely depart" —
a key test as the United States weighs whether to work with a future government
in Afghanistan led by the Islamists.
"We are not aware of anyone being held on an aircraft
or any hostage-like situation in Mazar-i-Sharif," Blinken told a news
conference in Doha where he and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met their Qatari
opposite numbers.
"We have been assured, again, that all American
citizens and Afghan citizens with valid travel documents will be allowed to
leave," Blinken said. "We intend to hold the Taliban to that."
He said the United States was seeking to resolve problems
with charter flights including security screening and some passengers' lack of
identification.
He said the Taliban cooperated Monday when a family of four
US citizens left overland, the first such departure arranged by the US
government after the chaotic end to the 20-year US war.
Qatar told
Blinken it was moving quickly with Turkey to
restore the ramshackle Kabul airport, a move that would allow more people to
leave and humanitarian supplies to come in.
Concerns for future
Blinken and Austin voiced appreciation to Qatar's ruler,
Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, and toured the Al Udeid military air base
outside Doha which became the busiest point of entry for evacuated Afghans.
In an aircraft hangar ventilated to protect from the searing
desert heat, Blinken walked past some 200 green cots — now empty as Afghans
moved out — and tables where US troops distributed water, baby formula and
nappies.
Roya Mahboob, an entrepreneur who backed the so-called
"Afghan Dreamers," voiced appreciation for the evacuations but
worried about thousands of students and teachers still in Afghanistan.
"I think everybody is scared about the future of
Afghanistan," she told Blinken.
He voiced empathy but acknowledged questions remain after
Biden pulled troops out of Afghanistan.
"There's so much change happening. I can't tell you
where everything is going to land," Blinken told her.
He said that the United States was committed to girls'
education and to helping Afghan refugees.
"We're also committed to doing everything we can to
help people who are still in Afghanistan and are looking for a different
future.
"That will play out in many different ways in the weeks
ahead, the months ahead and maybe even the years ahead," said Blinken, the
stepson of a Holocaust survivor who has long been an advocate for refugees.
'You literally saved lives'
Biden argued the United States could achieve nothing else
from its longest war after holding accountable Al-Qaeda over the September 11
attacks 20 years ago this week.
Austin acknowledged the withdrawal affected US capacities on
counterterrorism.
"There is no question it will make it more difficult to
identify and engage threats that emanate from the region," Austin said of
the pullout.
Austin and Blinken spent much of their time saluting US
military and civilian forces who handled one of the largest airlifts in
history.
"You've helped more people in the past few weeks than
most of us will ever get to do in a lifetime. You have literally saved
lives," Blinken said.
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