Following the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, ending America’s longest war, Secretary of State Antony Blinken touted a new era of diplomacy with the country and outlined the United States’ next steps in Afghanistan.
“U.S. military flights have ended, and our troops have departed Afghanistan,” Blinken said on Monday evening, hours after the last U.S. military plane departed from Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport.
“A new chapter of American engagement with Afghanistan has begun,” he continued. “It's one in which we will lead with our diplomacy.”
Blinken laid out the steps forward, including transferring the U.S.’ diplomatic mission from Kabul to Doha, Qatar.
“As of today, we’ve suspended our diplomatic presence in Kabul, and transferred our operations to Doha, Qatar, which will soon be formally notified to Congress,” Blinken said. “Given the uncertain security environment, the political situation in Afghanistan, it was the prudent step to take.”
Blinken said that the U.S. Embassy in Kabul — which closed in 1989 after Soviet forces withdrew from Afghanistan, but reopened in 2002 following the U.S.-led invasion — will remain closed.
Blinken touted “the extraordinary efforts” made by diplomats “to give Americans every opportunity to depart the country — in many cases talking and sometimes walking them into the airport.”
“Of those who self-identified as Americans in Afghanistan who are considering leaving the country, we’ve thus far received confirmation that 6,000 have been evacuated or otherwise departed,” and predicted that number will likely grow in the coming days “as our outreach and arrivals continue.”
Blinken said that fewer than 200 Americans remain in Afghanistan who want to leave the country, pledging that the U.S. government will help any American remaining in the country to make their way stateside at any point in the future.
“We believe there are still a small number of Americans, under 200 — and likely closer to 100 — who remain in Afghanistan and want to leave,” he said. “We’re trying to determine exactly how many.”
Blinken said that one of the challenges behind getting an exact number of Americans still left in Afghanistan “is that there are longtime residents” of the country with U.S. passports, who were unsure of whether or not to leave. Blinken said many are dual citizens with “deep roots and extended families in Afghanistan.”
“Our commitment to them, and to all Americans in Afghanistan and everywhere in the world, continues,” he said, adding: "The protection and welfare of Americans abroad remains the State Department's most vital and enduring mission.”
The Secretary of State also pledged that they will "keep working to help" Afghan allies who assisted U.S. forces and fear reprisal from the Taliban: "Our commitment to them has no deadline"
Blinken on Monday praised the service men and women who assisted during the chaotic two weeks of evacuations, saying the safe passage of Americans and Afghan allies out of the country was “more than just a high stakes assignment for our team – it was a sacred duty.”
In the 24 hours before final liftoff, the U.S. evacuated about 1,200 people on 26 C-17 flights, the White House said early Monday afternoon. The U.S. has evacuated about 122,000 people since Aug. 14, including around 6,000 Americans.
Blinken said the U.S. will hold the Taliban accountable for the promises it has made so far, including the safe passage of foreign nationals through the country and allowing women and girls more freedoms under the tenets of Islamic law.