Blinken: Of Estimated 6K Americans Wanting to Leave Afghanistan, 4,500 Have Been Evacuated

Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced on Wednesday that of the approximately 6,000 American citizens who said they wanted to leave Afghanistan, already 4,500 have been evacuated from the country.

"Starting on August 14, when our evacuation operations began, there was then a population of as many as 6,000 American citizens in Afghanistan who wanted to leave," Blinken said during a press briefing. "Over the last 10 days, roughly 4,500 of these Americans have been safely evacuated, along with immediate family members."

Blinken also noted that over the past 24 hours, the State Department has been in contact with "approximately 500 additional Americans and provided specific instructions on how to get to the airport safely," amid the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.

According to Blinken, the State Department is also in contact with "roughly 1,000 contacts" in Afghanistan "who may be Americans." Blinken said that the State Department is attempting to contact these individuals "multiple times a day, through multiple channels of communication."

Blinken added that the State Department is trying to communicate with those individuals in order to determine if they are American citizens that still want to leave Afghanistan.

Overall, Blinken said that "over 82,300 people have been safely flown out of Kabul."

As Blinken noted, numerous Americans in Afghanistan have sought to leave the country amid a Taliban takeover following the withdrawal of American troops.

The withdrawal of American troops was first agreed upon with the Taliban under former President Donald Trump's administration, with a deadline of May 1. President Joe Biden then first altered the deadline to September 11 before changing the withdrawal deadline to August 31.

Following the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan, both Biden and Blinken have vowed to evacuate all Americans that want to leave.

"Any American who wants to come home, we will get you home," Biden said during a recent press briefing. "We're going to do everything, everything that we can, to provide safe evacuation for our Afghan allies, partners and Afghans who might be targeted because of their association with the United States."

Similarly, during an interview with CBS News' Face the Nation, Blinken said that he, Biden and the Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin "have been clear that we will do whatever it takes to get Americans home and out of harm's way."

During a press briefing at the Pentagon on Wednesday, Army Major General Hank Taylor announced that on Tuesday, a plane transporting American citizens and Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) applicants departed from the Kabul airport "every 39 minutes."

"These numbers are a testament to the hard-working and brave service members carrying out this mission," Taylor said.

Newsweek was directed to Blinken's remarks on Wednesday after reaching out to the State Department for further comment.