The U.S. Department of State announced Saturday that 28 more Americans, along with seven lawful permanent residents, were evacuated from Afghanistan through a charter flight.
"We can confirm that a Qatar Airways charter flight departed from Kabul yesterday with 28 U.S. citizens and 7 lawful permanent residents on board," State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement.
"We are grateful to Qatari authorities, who continue to coordinate these flights with us," he continued. "We will continue to help U.S. citizens and Afghans affiliated with the U.S. government to depart Afghanistan. The international community welcomes the Taliban’s cooperation on these flights, and we will continue our engagement so that U.S. citizens and Afghans enjoy full freedom of movement."
This comes as the U.S. looks to evacuate at least 100 remaining American citizens who were left behind in Afghanistan after the U.S. military's final withdrawal of troops on Aug. 31.
Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. envoy for Afghanistan reconciliation, said Friday that more Americans were able to depart from Afghanistan on a Qatar Airways flight but did not mention the number of passengers on the aircraft.
2/2 As President Biden said, there is no deadline for Americans remaining in Afghanistan. We remain committed to get them out if they want to come home.
— U.S. Special Representative Zalmay Khalilzad (@US4AfghanPeace) September 17, 2021
Last week, the White House announced that 21 Americans and 11 lawful permanent residents had been evacuated from the Afghanistan.
The day prior, the Taliban allowed for the first international flight since the U.S. completed its withdrawal from the region.
The Biden administration has faced stark criticism from both Republicans and Democrats over its chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan as the region was quickly taken over by the Taliban.
A number of people died during the U.S. evacuation, including at least 170 Afghan civilians and 13 U.S. service members killed by ISIS-K suicide bombers. The U.S. also carried out an airstrike that took out an Afghan family of 10, which included a U.S. aid worker who, at the time, was believed to be a member of ISIS-K. No members of ISIS-K were killed in the strike.