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Aug 28, 2021 - Politics & Policy

State Department: Roughly 350 Americans still want to leave Afghanistan

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Afghans, hoping to leave Afghanistan, queue at the main entrance gate of Kabul airport in Kabul on August 28, 2021,

Afghans, hoping to leave Afghanistan, queue at the main entrance gate of Kabul airport in Kabul on August 28, 2021. Photo: Wakil Kohsar/AFP via Getty Images

Approximately 350 U.S. citizens who wish to leave Afghanistan are still in the country, the State Department said on Saturday.

Driving the news: Of the remaining individuals, some are believed to be nearly or already out of the country, per the State Department.

  • The department has communicated with approximately 280 individuals who said they do not want to leave or do not have plans to leave the country.

The big picture: Approximately 5,400 Americans have been evacuated from Afghanistan since Aug. 14, including nearly 300 Americans in the last day.

  • State Department spokesman Ned Price said Friday that the U.S. has a "commitment" to get specific groups — including American citizens, locally employed staff and Afghans with Special Immigrant Visas — out of Afghanistan, and that commitment will continue beyond Aug. 31.
  • President Biden on Saturday said that the threat of another terrorist attack near Kabul's airport remains "highly likely in the next 24-36 hours."
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