The U.S. military left some service members’ relatives stranded in Afghanistan when it withdrew at the end of August, but the Pentagon is now ramping up efforts to get them out.
More than two months after the withdrawal was completed, Colin Kahl, the undersecretary of defense for policy, issued a memo last Thursday asking those in the military with family members trapped and seeking an escape to email his office and provide them with their information.
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The memo, obtained by NBC News, calls for service members to provide their relatives’ names, contact information, locations, passport information, and national identification cards.
“Our policy shop put out a memo to the services to let them know that the immediate family members of our service members in Afghanistan are eligible for facilitated departure, and it lists who they are and encouraging military personnel and DOD civilians, quite frankly, with immediate members to contact the Office of Policy here at the Pentagon,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said during Monday’s briefing.
He said there’s an expectation that “dozen of service members would have concerns over family members” in Afghanistan.
Since the withdrawal, the State Department has led the diplomatic efforts to get Americans and vulnerable Afghans out of the Taliban-controlled country.
Kahl’s memo explained that various DOD departments are working with the State Department’s coordinator for Afghanistan relocation efforts to facilitate the departure of those who qualify.
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There has been significant scrutiny regarding the Americans left behind in Afghanistan after the United States conducted the largest noncombatant evacuation operation in history, airlifting more than 120,000 to fresh starts in safer countries. It’s unclear exactly how many Americans remain in Afghanistan and whether they want to leave.
Kahl said the State Department is “in contact with 196 American citizens who are ready to depart, and arrangements are being made for them to do so either via air or overground” transportation during testimony on Capitol Hill late last month. “Another 243 American citizens have been contacted and are not ready to depart either because they want to stay in Afghanistan or aren’t ready.”
