The CIA and U.S. military are reportedly conducting joint missions to evacuate Americans in and outside Kabul as the Aug. 31 deadline for U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan approaches, according to U.S. and other officials.
The extraction operations are using U.S. military helicopters but are under the control of the CIA, an arrangement that sources said is typical of such operations, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. The missions have reportedly evacuated U.S. citizens along with green card holders and Afghans who hold special immigration visas (SIVs) for helping U.S. forces.
Although the CIA hasn’t acknowledged U.S. military operations in Afghanistan, Defense Department officials said the military has conducted at least two extraction operations using helicopters within the past week to evacuate 185 Americans in and outside Kabul, the WSJ reported.
A Marine with the 24th Marine Expeditionary unit (MEU) passes out water to evacuees during the evacuation at Hamid Karzai International Airport during the evacuation on Aug. 21, 2021 in Kabul, Afghanistan (Isaiah Campbell/U.S. Marine Corps via Getty Images)
President Joe Biden said he won’t extend the Aug. 31 deadline but had promised earlier that the U.S. would keep troops in Afghanistan past the deadline if deemed necessary to evacuate all Americans from the country.
Roughly 3,800 Americans have been evacuated from Afghanistan since July 29 and an estimated 8,000 remain in the country, an official with direct knowledge of the situation told the Daily Caller on Tuesday. White House press secretary Jen Psaki acknowledged Tuesday there could be Americans still inside the country after U.S. troops have withdrawn.
The Taliban have surrounded Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul since capturing the city and almost all of the country in recent weeks. The Islamist militant group has since threatened retaliation against Americans and others if U.S. forces remain in the country past the Aug. 31 deadline. (RELATED: Pentagon Confirms Large Explosion Outside Kabul Airport. Local Media Reports 11 Deaths, Dozens Injured)
The U.S. Embassy in Kabul and a senior British defense official also issued an alert Thursday morning warning Americans to leave the Kabul airport due to a “security threat.” U.S. officials in recent days have cited threats near the airport from an Islamic State affiliate in the Khorasan region known as ISIS-K.