9-6-21 The White House and U.S. State Department are holding up charter planes at an airport in Afghanistan’s Mazar-i-Sharif that would transport 19 Americans and 40 SIV holders to Albania, David Rohde, the executive editor at NewYorker.com said in an interview Monday.
"I want to repeat that," he said. "It is the State Department and the White House" holding up the planes. He said the civilian effort has been "far more ambitious, far more dynamic and far more successful than what the administration has been doing."
On Sunday Rep. Mike McCaul, R-Texas, told Fox News that the Taliban has blocked Americans aboard six planes at Mazar-i-Sharif International Airport. Three Americans involved in the private evacuation of those still in the country also blasted the State Department for preventing the evacuation flights from leaving the country. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/state-department-white-house-holding-up-charter-planes-in-afghanistan-top-new-yorker-editor-says
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Sept 5 (Reuters) - About 1,000 people, including Americans, have been stuck in Afghanistan for days awaiting clearance for their charter flights to leave, an organizer told Reuters, blaming the delay on the U.S. State Department. Exasperated by the delays, the organizer said the State Department had failed to tell the Taliban of its approval for flight departures from the international airport in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif or validate a landing site. "They need to be held accountable for putting these people's lives in danger," said the organizer….
A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, challenged the idea that Americans were at risk, saying the U.S. government "has not confirmed any Americans are in Mazar-i-Sharif trying to leave from the airport." Asked about charter flights, a State Department spokesperson did not address specific accusations but stressed the United States did not have personnel on the ground and so lacked a reliable means to confirm the basic details of charter flights.
The expensive part for JDA International is arranging flights out of Mazar-i-Sharif. That’s where internet donations will hopefully play a significant role. “We’re talking about $2 million to airlift 1,400 people with Airbus A340 planes,” Hedlund said. “We’re in great need for airlifting out of Mazar-i-Sharif ... We need a couple million dollars for airlifting.”
Donations toward JDA’s efforts can be made on the organization’s website (https://www.jdainternational.org/). https://www.gjsentinel.com/news/western_colorado/gj-based-jda-international-raising-money-to-evacuate-families-from-afghanistan/article_a124c7e8-165d-11ec-afcc-4b8a0195371a.html
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9-18-21 A former US government employee, Wakil is not his real name; he spoke to CNN on the condition that his identify would not be revealed.
He has been stranded in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif along with hundreds of other Afghans. All have worked closely with US federal agencies and the US military over the past decade and more. Most, like Wakil, either hold Special Immigrant Visas or were in the process of obtaining them when the Taliban overran Kabul. Wakil said his family--he has three young daughters--was on a list compiled by the US State Department to be flown out of Kabul last month. But as they were trying to get into the airport, a suicide bomber struck, killing more than 170 people. Immediately after the bombing at Kabul airport on August 26, he said, he and his family--and dozens of others -- were bussed north to Mazar-i-Sharif."I received a message from my former supervisor to go to Mazar-i-Sharif and that wewould be taken to Doha [Qatar] from there," he said. Now Wakil feels forgotten and in danger. https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/18/asia/mazarabandoned-afghan-us-intl-cmd/index.html
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19 Sep 2021 Every night in yet another house in Afghanistan's capital, a US greencard-holding couple from California take turns sleeping, with one always awake to watch over their three young children so they can flee if they hear the footsteps of the Taliban. They've moved seven times in two weeks, relying on relatives to take them in and feed them…..US State Department official contacted them several days ago to tell them they were being assigned a case worker, but they haven't heard a word since. They tried and failed to get on a flight and now are talking to an international rescue organization. "We are scared and keep hiding ourselves more and more," the mother said in a text message to the Associated Press. "Whenever we feel breathless, I pray." Through messages, emails and phone conversations with loved ones and rescue groups AP has pieced together what day-to-day life has been like for some of those left behind after the US military's chaotic withdrawal--that includes US citizens, permanent US resident green-card holders and visa applicants who aided U.S. troops during the 20-year war….Her son says he called US embassy officials in Kabul several times before it shut down, filled out all the necessary paperwork, and even enlisted the help of a veteran's group and members of Congress. He doesn't know what more he can do….UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet said there is evidence they are not keeping their word. She warned on Monday that the country had entered a "new and perilous phase". https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/world-news-wary-of-taliban-us-citizens-live-in-hiding-in-afghanistan/395045
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WASHINGTON: US-trained Afghan pilots and other personnel who fled to Uzbekistan and were held in an Uzbek camp for about a month started departing the country on Sunday, a pilot told Reuters. They left under a US deal that came despite Taliban pressure for the return of the pilots and aircraft. https://www.arabnews.com/node/1927466/world
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A power struggle within the Taliban has badly hurt two key players--deputy prime minister Mullah Baradar and the group's spiritual leader Haibatullah Akhundzada - UK-based magazine The Spectator reported on Monday. It cited the recent clash during the government formation talks between Baradar faction and the Haqqani network to say that the former emerged as the "principal loser"....was also forced to release a video message on the state-run TV network controlled by the Taliban. The message "looked like a hostage video", The Spectator reported. https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/taliban-leader-mullah-baradar-held-hostage-haibatullah-akhundzada-dead-report-101632195007476.html
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