Today the United States government facilitated the additional departures of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents both on a chartered Qatar Airways flight from Kabul and via overland passage to a neighboring country. The Qatar Airways flight held 19 U.S. citizens and the party traveling overland included two U.S. citizens and 11 lawful permanent residents.

We are continuing intensive work across the U.S. government to facilitate the safe transit of these individuals and other U.S. citizens, LPRs, and Afghans who have worked for us who wish to leave Afghanistan. Because there is an ongoing terrorist threat to operations of this nature, we will not be sharing details of these efforts before people are safely out of the country.

We are deeply grateful to the continued efforts of Qatar in facilitating operations at the Kabul International Airport and continuing to help ensure the safety of charter flights.

Today’s departures demonstrate how we are giving Americans clear and safe options to leave Afghanistan from different locations. A number of Americans have taken these options; some have decided not to, for a variety of reasons. That is their right. We understand these are difficult decisions. We will continue to provide proven options for leaving. It is up to Americans who remain whether they choose to take them.

###