Another 21 U.S. citizens evacuated from Afghanistan as Taliban allow some departures
CBSN
Evacuations continued in Afghanistan on Friday with an additional 21 U.S. citizens and 11 Lawful Permanent Residents fleeing Taliban rule, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement. This comes a day after the Taliban allowed a flight carrying Americans and other foreign nationals to depart the country for the first time since U.S. forces withdrew last month.
Two U.S. citizens and the 11 legal residents took an "overland route" out of the country. "We provided guidance to them, worked to facilitate their safe passage, and Embassy officials greeted them once they had crossed the border," Blinken said late Friday. It was not clear which border they traveled to.Ashley White received her earliest combat action badge from the United States Army soon after the first lieutenant arrived in Afghanistan. The silver military award, recognizing soldiers who've been personally engaged by an attacker during conflict, was considered an achievement in and of itself as well as an affirming rite of passage for the newly deployed. White had earned it for using her own body to shield a group of civilian women and children from gunfire that broke out in the midst of her third mission in Kandahar province. All of them survived. She never mentioned the badge to anyone in her battalion.