Blinken says 'no deadline' to get out Americans, Afghans, but many will be left behind by evacuation flights

The U.S. will continue to help its citizens and residents and Afghans who worked with Americans or are otherwise at risk from the Taliban get out of Afghanistan.

After President Joe Biden's withdrawal of all U.S. troops by Aug. 31, the U.S. will continue to help U.S. citizens and residents and Afghans who worked with Americans or are otherwise at risk from the Taliban get out of the country, according to Secretary of State Antony Blinken. But it's unclear how that will be possible after the U.S. cedes control of the airport to the Taliban and ends evacuation flights -- and it will mean leaving thousands of Afghans that the administration had previously said they would help behind. Biden and Blinken have each said that the U.S. is "on track to complete our mission" before that Aug. 31 deadline, without specifying what the administration considers the scope of that mission -- including how many Afghans they will evacuate. In contrast, Blinken detailed how many Americans the U.S. has evacuated -- some 4,500 to date -- and how many the administration believes are left behind -- 500 with whom the State Department has made contact with and up to 1,000 more who registered with the embassy.