The Biden administration plans to evacuate at least some of the Afghans who worked with the U.S. military and who face the threat of retribution from the Taliban before the U.S. withdrawal's official completion date of Sept. 11, senior administration officials said Thursday.
The White House had previously declined to endorse the idea but President Joe Biden gave the green light to evacuation plans on Thursday, telling reporters, "Those who helped us are not going to be left behind."
The decision follows an internal debate and urgent appeals in recent weeks from lawmakers from both parties, veterans of the war in Afghanistan, the Afghans who risked their lives to support U.S. soldiers, and from diplomats in America's longest war.
Asked about the fate of Afghans who worked as interpreters or in other jobs, Biden said: "We've already begun the process" of helping the Afghan partners.
Asked which country they would be relocated to, the president said he didn't know and mentioned he would be meeting Afghan President Ashraf Ghani at the White House on Friday.
An unspecified number of Afghans who worked as interpreters for the U.S. government and who applied for a visa will be moved to a third country, where their paperwork will be reviewed, senior administration officials said.
It remained unclear how many Afghans would be evacuated, which third country would accept them and when the operation would begin, NBC News reporeted.
The U.S. withdrawal is likely to be effectively complete next month, according to officials.
