US aggressively reaching out to the remaining 1000 contacts who may be Americans

US Secretary of State Blinken on Afghanistan evacuations says:

  • at least 4500 US citizens have been evacuated from Afghanistan since August 14
  • says 6000 American citizens were in Afghanistan who wanted to leave when evacuations began
  • there are less than 1000 Americans actively seeking to leave Afghanistan
  • US is aggressively reaching out to the remaining of thousand contacts who may be Americans
  • US developing plans for aiding departure after the 31st August.
  • Looking at series of options when asked about keeping Kabul embassy after US military leaves Afghanistan
  • US will use every diplomatic economic assistant tool to ensure those who want to leave Afghanistan past August 31 can do so
  • The effort to help people who want to leave Afghanistan will continue as long as it takes
  • Regional countries making active efforts to see if they can play a role in keeping Kabul airport open