White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain said Sunday that around one hundred U.S. citizens are still in Afghanistan and that "many of them want to stay," despite reports that the Taliban was seeking to attack and execute Americans and Afghan allies following the the final evacuation of U.S. troops on Aug. 31.
Klain told CNN’s Dana Bash on "State of the Union" that the U.S. government has been in communication with the Americans remaining in the region that they have been able to locate.
"We believe it’s around a hundred," Klain said. "We’re in touch with all of them, who we’ve identified, on a regular basis. Obviously, we’re hopeful that in the coming days that the Qataris will resume air service out of Kabul. And if they do, we’re obviously going to look to see if Americans can be on those flights."
"We are going to find ways to get them, the ones that want to leave, to get them out of Afghanistan," he continued. "We know many of them have family members, many of them want to stay, but the ones that want to leave, we’re going to get them out."
When pressed about what the Biden administration is doing in response to reports that the terror group hunting down and killing former Afghan officials and soldiers, Klain only affirmed that the U.S. has been in close contact with people residing in Afghanistan.
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"There are all kinds of reports coming in," Klain hedged. "We’re in close communication with our sources and our contacts in Afghanistan to try to get those SIVs out safely. I know that some are coming out by land. We’re going to continue to work on efforts to get them out by air as well. We are going to continue to work to get those SIVs out of the country."
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