State Department ‘blocks departure of dozens of Americans from Afghanistan by failing to tell Taliban it has green-lighted flights’

• Up to 1,000 people hoping to flee Afghanistan on six chartered flights have been barred from doing so, it was reported Sunday
• They traveled to Mazir-i-Sharif, 260 miles north of Kabul, with satellite images showing six airliners sat on its runway
• There is confusion over what exactly is causing the hold up, with a Republican Representative claiming the passengers were being held hostage by the Taliban
• But others said the US State Department was to blame, for refusing to confirm that it had cleared the flights for take-off, or banning them from landing  
• Discussions are also said to be ongoing between the US, Taliban chiefs and Qatari officials, who are set to let the planes land in their country  

The US State Department has been accused of blocking dozens of Americans from fleeing Afghanistan after failing to tell the Taliban it had green-lighted charter flights. 

On Sunday, Reuters reported that the delay had been caused by Biden administration officials not telling Taliban leaders it had approved the departures of the chartered flights from an airport in the city of Mazar-i-Sharif, 260 miles north of Afghan capital Kabul.

An exasperated flight organizer hit out at the State Department over the fiasco, saying: ‘They need to be held accountable for putting these people’s lives in danger.’ 

Other groups trying to organize their own chartered flights have also hit out at the State Department, with Rick Clay from private rescue firm PlanB claiming the organization is the only thing stopping him fulfilling his brief.

Two other organizers have also torn into the Anthony Blinken-headed department, with one – who didn’t give their name – telling Fox: ‘This is zero place to be negotiating with American lives. Those are our people standing on the tarmac and all it takes is a f****ing phone call.

Six planes are seen on the tarmac at Mazar Sharif Airport in Afghanistan, amid claims a blunder by the US State Department has prevented them from evacuating Americans and Afghan visa holders

‘If one life is lost as a result of this, the blood is on the White House’s hands. The blood is on their hands. It is not the Taliban that is holding this up – as much as it sickens me to say that – it is the United States government.’ 

One of those organizers also claimed that any rescue charter flights wishing to land at Al Udeid Air Base in Doha, Qatar, must first seek State Department approval, leaving them with a further bureaucratic delay. 

The New York Times reported that a total of 1,000 people – including dozens of American citizens – had been held at the city’s airport for five days. 

Other passengers hoping to fly include Afghans who hold visas to move to other countries, including the United States. 

Sources told the paper that the Taliban was to blame for refusing to give the jets clearance to take off for Qatar, but also said that negotiations between the US, Taliban and Qatar had been continuing for days. 

Further details on the reason for the delay in discussions has not been disclosed. although Secretary of State Anthony Blinken jetted to Qatar on Sunday to discuss the issue with leaders there. .  

Earlier on Sunday, Republican Representative Michael McCaul appeared on Fox News also blamed the Taliban for the ongoing delays at Mazar-i-sharif.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken waves as he gets ready to board an aircraft from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland to travel to Doha on Sunday evening for Afghan talks 

His remarks – also reported by Reuters and the Times – claimed that six planes were being banned from taking off. 

The Texan lawmaker claimed the Islamist extremist group was using the jets and their passengers as a ‘bargaining chip’ in the hopes of its newly-victorious leadership gaining recognition from the US government. 

But Marina LeGree, who founded nonprofit Ascend, says the 34 people she had hoped to get on the charter flight were not being held hostage.

She said that, while currently barred from flying out of Afghanistan, the Taliban had allowed the prospective travelers, several of them women aged 16 to 23,  to leave the airport.

McGree explained: ‘The pressure is building. The crowd is growing. It’s just a nasty scene. For us, we can’t go back. The girls are terrified. My girls are all Hazaras. Going back is just not an option. They’re truly desperate to leave.’

Hazaras are a Persian-speaking ethnic minority who live in the mountains of Afghanistan, and who suffered persecution at the hands of the Taliban when they were last in power between 1996 and 2001. 

McGree added: ‘I’m totally worried. I’ve got teenage girls in there.

‘Surely we have people in the U.S. government who know who to press on. We can’t fix Afghanistan, but this is one thing we can fix.’ 

Pressure on the US government to break the logjam grew further after another Republican Representative, Mike Waltz, called on the State Department to work with non-government organizations which are trying to clear the charter flights to take off. 

He tweeted: ‘Our evacuation mission in Afghanistan is NOT over. Right now, Americans are in hiding waiting for private flights to be diplomatically cleared by the State Department for take off. 

‘With no military nor diplomatic presence on the ground, the Biden Admin should be collaborating WITH these NGOs in a public-private partnership to bring our people home and also to provide humanitarian aid to internal safe zones.’

A State Department spokesman disputed claims that Americans’ safety was at risk, but said the lack of a US presence in Afghanistan made it impossible to confirm the details of charter flights, including the number of US citizens hoping to get a seat, as well as the planes’ intended destinations.   

Texas Republican Representative Michael McCaul said on Sunday that there are at least six planes holding Americans that are being prevented by the Taliban from taking off from the Mazar Sharif Airport in Afghanistan

US Representative Mike Waltz, pictured, has also called on the State Department to work with NGOs to speed up evacuation efforts from Afghanistan 

The spokesman added: ‘We will hold the Taliban to its pledge to let people freely depart Afghanistan.’ 

Speaking on Fox News Sunday, Rep McCaul said: ‘We have six airplanes at Mazar Sharif Airport, six airplanes with American citizens on them as I speak, also with these interpreters, and the Taliban is holding them hostage for demands right now,’ 

‘The state has cleared these flights and the Taliban will not let them leave the airport,’ he detailed. McCaul went on to claim that the flights were being used by the Islamic extremist group as a bargaining chip with the US, in return for full-recognition of its  

The airport in question is more than 260 miles from the Hamid Karzai International Airport in the capital city of Kabul, where military flights evacuated thousands of Americans and allies from the country amid the Taliban takeover.

Senator Ted Cruz, who serves on the Committee on Foreign Relations, appeared to further substantiate that claim in a Sunday tweet.

‘Joe Biden abandoned Americans in Afghanistan,’ the Texas senator wrote. ‘Members of Congress, including me and my office, have been working around the clock to get them out – and for days Biden’s State Dept. couldn’t even get out of its own way.’

‘Now there are deeply disturbing reports of a hostage crisis,’ he added.

McCaul, the top Republican on the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee, said that since the total troop U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, no Americans have been evacuated from the country.

‘Since we left the country on Friday, how many Americans have gotten out of Afghanistan?’ Wallace asked. ‘Since we pulled out, how many Afghan allies have gotten out since the Taliban was in complete control of the country?’

‘Zero,’ McCaul shot back. ‘I’m sorry, the answer to your question is zero.’

Ted Cruz appeared to substantiate those claims and speak out against the ‘hostage crisis’ by slamming Biden again for ‘abandoning Americans in Afghanistan’ 

An Afghan official at the airport in Mazar-e-Sharif said that the would-be passengers were Afghans, many of whom did not have passports or visas, and thus were unable to leave the country. He said they had left the airport while the situation was sorted out.

McCaul reminded viewers that the group on the planes included Americans.

He also said they were sitting on the planes, but the Taliban were not letting them take off, effectively ‘holding them hostage.’

The Republican congressman did not say where that information came from. It was not immediately possible to reconcile the accounts.

The final days of America’s 20-year war in Afghanistan were marked by a harrowing airlift at Kabul’s airport to evacuate tens of thousands of people – Americans and their allies – who feared what the future would hold, given the Taliban’s history of repression, particularly of women. When the last troops pulled out on August 30, though, many were left behind.

After all U.S. troops left Afghanistan, the administration revealed that it left behind at least 100 American citizens who are now left without options to evacuate.

The U.S. promised, however, to continue working with the new Taliban rulers to get those who want to leave out, and the militants pledged to allow anyone with the proper legal documents to leave.

McCaul told ‘Fox News Sunday’ that American citizens and Afghan interpreters were being kept on six planes.

‘The Taliban will not let them leave the airport,’ he said, adding that he´s worried ‘they´re going to demand more and more, whether it be cash or legitimacy as the government of Afghanistan.’ He did not offer more details.

The Afghan official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject, said it was four planes, and their intended passengers were staying at hotels while authorities worked out whether they might be able to leave the country. The sticking point, he indicated, is that many did not have the right travel papers.

Residents of Mazar-e-Sharif also said the passengers were no longer at the airport. At least 10 families were seen at a local hotel waiting, they said, for a decision on their fates. None of them had passports or visas but said they had worked for companies allied with the U.S. or German military. Others were seen at restaurants.

The small airport at Mazar-e-Sharif only recently began to handle international flights and so far only to Turkey. The planes in question were bound for Doha, Qatar, the Afghan official said. It was not clear who chartered them or why they were waiting in the northern city. The massive airlift happened at Kabul´s international airport, which initially closed after the U.S. withdrawal but where domestic flights have now resumed.

Searing images of that chaotic evacuation – including people clinging to an airplane as it took off – came to define the final days of America´s longest war, just weeks after Taliban fighters retook the country in a lightning offensive.

Since their takeover, the Taliban have sought to recast themselves as different from their 1990s incarnation, when they last ruled the country and imposed repressive restrictions across society. Women and girls were denied work and education, men were forced to grow beards, and television and music were banned.

Now, the world is waiting to see the face of the new government, and many Afghans remain skeptical. In the weeks since they took power, signals have been mixed: Government employees including women have been asked to return to work, but some women were later ordered home by lower-ranking Taliban. Universities and schools have been ordered open, but fear has kept both students and teachers away.

Women have demonstrated peacefully, some even having conversations about their rights with Taliban leaders. But some have been dispersed by Taliban special forces firing in the air.

A Taliban soldier stands guard at the gate of Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul

A Taliban soldier patrols at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul

Some signs of normalcy have also begun to return. Kabul´s streets are again clogged with traffic, as Taliban fighters patrol in pickup trucks and police vehicles – brandishing their automatic weapons and flying the Taliban´s white flag. Schools have opened, and moneychangers work the street corners.

Among the promises the Taliban have made is that once the country’s airports are up and running, Afghans with passports and visas would be allowed to travel. More than 100 countries issued a statement saying they would be watching to see that the new rulers held to their commitment.

Technical teams from Qatar and Turkey arrived in recent days and are working to get the civilian airport operational.

On Saturday, state-run Ariana Airlines made its first domestic flights, which continued on Sunday. The airport is without radar facilities, so flights are restricted to daylight hours to allow for visual landing, said official Shershah Stor.

Several countries have also been bringing in humanitarian supplies. The Gulf state of Qatar, where the Taliban maintained a political office since 2013, is making daily flights into Kabul, delivering humanitarian aid for the war-weary nation. Bahrain also announced humanitarian assistance deliveries.

Meanwhile, the Taliban stepped up an assault on the last remaining pocket of resistance being led by fighters opposed to their rule.

The anti-Taliban fighters in Panjshir province, north of the Afghan capital, are being led by former vice president Amrullah Saleh, who has appealed for humanitarian aid to help the thousands of people displaced by the fighting.

A senior Taliban spokesman tweeted Sunday that Taliban troops had overrun Rokha district, one of largest of eight districts in Panjshir. Several Taliban delegations have attempted negotiations with the holdouts there, but talks have failed to gain traction.

Saleh fled to Panjshir after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani quit Afghanistan as the Taliban marched on the capital. The fighters’ lightning blitz across the country took less than a week to overrun some 300,000 government troops, most of whom surrendered or fled.

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