Doha: US Secretary Antony Blinken denied on Tuesday reported that the Taliban had blocked Americans trying to fly out of the North Afghan city, but said the group did not allow charter flights to depart because some people did not have legitimate travel documents.
Reports have emerged over the past few days that 1,000 people, including Americans, have been trapped at Mazar-i-Sharif Airport for days waiting for permission for their charter flights.
One organizer blamed the delay in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Blinken spoke at a press conference in Qatar, a US ally that had emerged as the main Tallocutor for the Taliban, which seized power in Kabul on August 15 after the government supported by the West collapsed.
Blinken said Washington had identified a small number of Americans who tried to depart from Mazar-I-Sharif.
But one of the main challenges around the charter flight trying to leave is that some people do not have legitimate travel documents that effectively block the departure of the entire group, he said.
“And that my understanding is that the Taliban has not denied out to anyone who holds a valid document, but they have said they are without a valid document, at this time, cannot go,” Blinken said.
“Because everyone is grouped together, it means that the flight has not been allowed to leave,” he said.
Confusion is the latest flame point that follows a chaotic US military withdrawal completion after the Taliban Islamic guerrillas seize power.
Blinken added that the Taliban enforced their commitment to allow Americans with legitimate travel documents to leave.
“We are not aware of anyone who is detained on airplanes or hostages such as the situation in Mazar-i-Sharif.
So we have to work through different requirements and that’s what we do,” he said.
Speaking with Blinken, Secretary of State Qatar Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said his country hoped Kabul airport would rise and run for passengers in the next few days, but there was no agreement on how to run it had not been achieved.
Blinken and US Defense Minister Lloyd Austin were in Qatar to seek American and Afghan evacuations at risk of taking a Taliban takeover and to build consensus among allies about how to respond to the Islamic movement.
Antony Blinken denied the Taliban prevented Americans from leaving Mazar-i-Sharif
