Over 1,000, Including Americans, Await Flights At Afghan City: Report

The confusion was the latest flashpoint following a chaotic US military withdrawal completed after Taliban seized power in Kabul on August 15

About 1,000 people, including Americans, have been stuck in Afghanistan for days awaiting clearance for their charter flights to leave, an organizer told Reuters, blaming the delay on the U.S. State Department. The confusion was the latest flashpoint following a chaotic U.S. military withdrawal completed after Taliban seized power in Kabul on Aug. 15, after the Western-backed government collapsed. Exasperated by the delays, the organizer said the State Department had failed to tell the Taliban of its approval for flight departures from the international airport in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif or validate a landing site. "They need to be held accountable for putting these people's lives in danger," said the organizer, who sought anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.