White House not aware of 'precise number' of Americans in Afghanistan

The Taliban’s control even before the complete withdrawal of US-led foreign forces has jeopardised the evacuation of diplomats, staff, other foreigners and some Afghan nationals who helped the troops.

The United States government isn’t aware of the exact numbers of Americans currently stranded in Afghanistan, the White House communications director said on Friday amid fears of reprisal from the Taliban. Kate Bedingfield told CNN that the White House doesn’t have a “precise number” on US citizens, adding that the current count "includes people who may have left the country, who may have left over the course of the last six months."

Hundreds of people run alongside a US Air Force C-17 transport plane as it moves down a runway of the international airport, in Kabul, Afghanistan. (AP)

"What we're doing is working to identify how many Americans are there," she said.

The statement comes days after US President Joe Biden said he would extend the August 31 deadline for the complete withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan. The US president has been facing criticism over the rushed withdrawal of troops as the situation rapidly deteriorated in Afghanistan and put the Taliban in virtually total control.

After the Taliban captured Afghanistan’s national capital in a lightning push, Kabul airport witnessed chaos as hundreds of desperate Afghans tried to board military planes.

The Taliban’s control even before the complete withdrawal of US-led foreign forces has jeopardised the evacuation of diplomats, staff, other foreigners and some Afghan nationals who helped the troops. The crisis has prompted Biden to address the nation on the evacuation of Americans, Special Immigrant Visa applicants and "vulnerable Afghans" at 1pm ET (10:30 pm IST).

About 10,000 to 15,000 US citizens are in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, according to The Washington Post report quoting Senate aides.

"As of a few weeks ago we had already begun reaching out to all American citizens who were in Afghanistan, via email, via text, via messaging app to hear from them, and to understand their plans and work with them to get them out if they want to get out," Bedingfield told CNN.