Blinken lands in Qatar to thank nation for help with Afghan evacuations as 200 Americans and thousands of allies remain stranded and Taliban 'take control' of entire country
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Qatar on Monday as Washington seeks support for the evacuation of stranded Americans and at-risk Afghans left behind and after the Taliban said they had taken control of the entire country.
A senior State Department official told reporters on Blinken's flight that Washington has facilitated the safe departure of four more Americans overland from Afghanistan, while up to 200 are still on the ground and struggling to get out.
'This is the first overland evacuation facilitated by the State Department,' the official said, adding that the Taliban were aware of the operation and did not impede safe passage of the individuals. The official did not name the country they transited to.
Dubbed as a 'thank you' tour to Qatar and Germany, Blinken will meet with senior Qatari and German officials. In Germany he will also co-host a ministerial meeting on Afghanistan.
Hours after Blinken landed in Qatar, the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations announced that Blinken will testify on America's withdrawal from Afghanistan before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on September 14.
As Blinken began his trip, President Biden continued his long weekend in Delaware with a surprise trip to union workers to eat a sandwich and take selfies.
Blinken has been under intense scrutiny for his role in the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan where 13 American service members died and thousands of Afghan allies were left behind.
Republicans, former White House officials and ex-members of the military have called on him to resign over the chaos.
Tennessee GOP Senator Marsha Blackburn told him to step down on Monday in a tweet saying: 'These 'extremely complex logistical issues' to evacuate our citizens and Afghan partners should have been worked out before all our troops left. It's time for Secretary Blinken to resign.'
On Monday the Taliban claimed they had taken total control of Afghanistan with the capture of the Panjshir Valley.
The Islamists released footage of their white banner flying over the provincial capital of Bazarak on Monday after a swift battle which saw them overwhelm the resistance with high-tech weaponry abandoned by the Americans.
Resistance leader Ahmad Massoud appeared to admit defeat in an audio message sent to the media in which he called on Afghans for a 'a national uprising for the dignity, freedom and prosperity of our country.'
There were also reports that the State Department had delayed six flights from the city of Mazar-i-Sharif with at least 142 Americans on board.
The fleet of two Airbus 340s and four Boeing 737s, which was also due to have hundreds of Afghan allies on board, was funded Mercury One, a charity founded by right-wing commentator Glenn Beck.
Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal tore into the Biden administration's delays of flights getting Americans out of Afghanistan in a blistering statement on Monday.
'I have been deeply frustrated, even furious, at our government's delay and inaction,' he said.
'There will be plenty of time to seek accountability for the inexcusable bureaucratic red tape that stranded so many of our Afghan allies,' added Blumenthal.
'For now, my singular focus remains getting these planes in the air and safely to our airbase in Doha, where they have already been cleared to land.'
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Qatar on Monday as Washington seeks support for the evacuation of stranded Americans and at-risk Afghans left behind and after the Taliban said they had taken control of the entire country
Dubbed as a 'thank you' tour to Qatar and Germany, Blinken will meet with senior Qatari and German officials. In Germany he will also co-host a ministerial meeting on Afghanistan
Blinken is pictured with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani on Monday after he touched down in the Middle Eastern nation to discuss the ongoing Afghanistan crisis
President Biden eats a sandwich and takes a selfie as he visits union workers at the International Brotherhood of Electric Workers Local 313 in Newcastle, Delaware
Biden made the surprise stop during his long weekend in Wilmington, Delaware, over the Labor Day weekend
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Qatar has emerged as the main mediator between the Taliban, who swept into Kabul on Aug. 15, and Western countries following the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Doha said on Saturday it had reopened Kabul airport for humanitarian aid and domestic flights in coordination with the hardline Islamist group. Other international flights are expected to resume soon, it said.
Daily flights have been scheduled from Doha to Kabul to deliver aid.
About 124,000 people were evacuated last month from Kabul in a U.S.-led airlift of U.S. and other foreign citizens as well as vulnerable Afghans as the Taliban took control of the country.
The evacuation was one of the largest airlifts in history but thousands of at-risk Afghans and about 100 U.S. citizens have remained behind. Blinken has vowed to continue efforts to get them out and also hold the Taliban to their commitment to provide safe passage to anyone who wishes to leave.
U.S. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, who is travelling to the Gulf on a separate trip, will also visit Qatar on Tuesday. Austin's visit also includes Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
A House Republican lawmaker called for President Biden's impeachment on Monday morning as he vacations in Delaware over Labor Day weekend while anywhere between 100 and 200 Americans are still stranded in Afghanistan amid a reported breakdown in negotiations between the Taliban and State Department.
'He's prioritizing his vacation over the lives of American citizens,' Tennessee Rep. Diana Harshbarger said of Biden on Fox News.
'He kept his promises to the Taliban and he's breaking his promises to Americans to get them out, and god only knows what will happen if they can't get out.'
Biden is scheduled to return to DC tonight after spending two full days in Delaware with no public events. He flew back to his home state Friday night after touring Hurricane Ida damage in Louisiana.
Meanwhile, the US military withdrawal from Kabul was completed a week ago, and efforts to rescue American citizens still stuck in Afghanistan has reached an impasse with reports that six private charter planes sent there to evacuate at least 1,000 people have been grounded in an Afghan city 260 miles north of Kabul.
The stranded American family rescued from Afghanistan by LAND: Republicans share photos of mother and children they helped reach the border after Biden's chaotic evacuation left them behind
Republican members of Congress are celebrating their successful rescue efforts of an American mother and her young children stranded in Afghanistan after President Joe Biden's chaotic military evacuation abandoned up to 200 American citizens and thousands of Afghan special immigrant visa applicants.
US officials confirmed it was the first successful government-led land evacuation since the withdrawal effort began.
Oklahoma conservative Rep. Markwayne Mullin posted a photo on Twitter Monday morning of an American citizen named Mariam surrounded by her three small children.
Mullin said he had been contacted by a friend 'a little over three weeks ago' asking if he could do anything to help the young mother and her three children, who also hold US passports.
'Mariam had gone to visit her parents for the first time with the kids and became trapped in Kabul when the Taliban overran the city. We left two weeks ago today to get her, the children, and others out,' the lawmaker wrote.
The father of six said his team worked 'around the clock' and encountered numerous setbacks but perservered.
Mariam and her family were abandoned in Afghanistan when the US military withdrew from Kabul last week. US officials confirmed they were the first Americans rescued by the government by land since the Taliban took the country
Mariam and her children, Mullin said, came close to death multiple times 'including again today' - but he didn't elaborate further.
'This morning at 05:32ETC they got out of Afghanistan. Praise the Lord!' Mullin wrote.
He added: 'There are still many families like Mariam's who are desperately wanting and waiting to get out. American cannot rest until we get them all home.'
US officials announced Monday morning that a US citizen and their relatives escaped Afghanistan through an overland route to a neighboring country.
Mullin's office confirmed to DailyMail.com that it was Mariam and her young family.
She and her children 'successfully departed Afghanistan using an overland route' and were met by US embassy staff at the border.
The State Department said in a statement to Fox News that it 'facilitated the safe departure' of four Americans from Afghanistan and added the 'Taliban was aware and did not impede their transit.'
The official would not speak to details of the evacuation or to the country in which they arrived, citing security reasons and the need to preserve the viability of the route for possible future efforts.
The evacuation is the first overland extraction the US government has confirmed since it ended its air evacuation effort last week with the final withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan.
Rep. Ronny Jackson celebrated their rescue on Twitter and revealed Mariam and her children are his constituents in Texas's 13th Congressional district
Rep. Ronny Jackson of Texas also celebrated Mariam's rescue on Twitter Monday morning and revealed she was one of his own constituents from Texas's 13th district.
'After 2 weeks & multiple life threatening attempts, I am overjoyed to share that 4 U.S. citizens from #TX13 were part of the first successful ground evacuation since the U.S. left Kabul,' Jackson wrote.
'Thank you to Cory Mills & the other patriots on his team for saving these BRAVE Americans!'
A senior State Department official told reporters on Blinken's flight that Washington has facilitated the safe departure of four more Americans overland from Afghanistan, while up to 200 are still on the ground and struggling to get out. Blinken walks alongside U.S. Ambassador John Desrocher on Monday
Blinken is welcomed upon his arrival by MFA Director of Protocol Ambassador Ibrahim Fakhroo at Old Doha Airport. Blinken is meeting with Qatari leaders to thank the nation for its support in the Afghanistan evacuation efforts and to discuss the future of US-Afghanistan relations
An aerial view of an Afghan refugee camp inside the US military base in Ramstein, Germany, on Monday where thousands of evacuees are waiting to be vetted and processed, with some set for flights to the United States
Two soldiers walk through the tent city in Ramstein housing thousands of Afghan refugees who fled the Taliban takeover
The United States is entering into the second phase of the largest non-combatant evacuation in its history as officials now mount an international effort to vet and house thousands of Afghan refugees fleeing Taliban rule. More than 123,000 people, mostly Afghans, have been evacuated by Biden administration-led charter flights and international allies since August 15 during the chaotic Kabul withdrawal. The figures are based on the amount of refugees in each region as of Thursday
One NGO official told Newsweek the remaining passengers are special immigrant visa applicants and that everyone is 'waiting in their safe houses for clearance for takeoff from the Taliban' amid the diplomatic stalemate.
The evacuation flights reportedly cost Beck's charity $750,000 each.
Harshbarger on Monday said now is the time for Biden to be 'on the job 100%.'
'We have people still in Afghanistan, they won't let our planes leave,' she said.
On Sunday, Reuters reported that the delay had been caused by Biden administration officials not telling Taliban leaders it had approved the departures of the chartered flights from Mazar-i-Sharif.
An exasperated flight organizer hit out at the State Department over the fiasco, saying: 'They need to be held accountable for putting these people's lives in danger.'
Other groups trying to organize their own chartered flights have also hit out at the State Department, with Rick Clay from private rescue firm PlanB claiming it's the only thing stopping him fulfilling his brief.
Two other organizers have also torn into the Antony Blinken-headed department, with one - who didn't give their name - telling Fox: 'This is zero place to be negotiating with American lives. Those are our people standing on the tarmac and all it takes is a f****ing phone call.
'If one life is lost as a result of this, the blood is on the White House's hands. The blood is on their hands. It is not the Taliban that is holding this up – as much as it sickens me to say that – it is the United States government.'
Further details on the reason for the delay in discussions has not been disclosed. although Blinken jetted to Qatar on Sunday to discuss the issue with leaders there.
As the situation developed over the weekend, Texas Rep. Michael McCaul told Fox News earlier Sunday that the Taliban was holding the planes hostage.
'We have six airplanes at Mazar Sharif Airport, six airplanes with American citizens on them as I speak, also with these interpreters, and the Taliban is holding them hostage for demands right now,'
'The state has cleared these flights and the Taliban will not let them leave the airport,' he detailed.
McCaul went on to claim that the flights were being used by the Islamic extremist group as a bargaining chip with the US, in return for full recognition.
The Taliban has raised its flag outside its new 'headquarters' in Panjshir province - the last holdout of anti-Taliban forces in Afghanistan since the group's blitz across the country last month
Video shared on social media shows four Taliban members hoisting the Islamist militants' white and black flag up a flagpole as two heavily armed gunmen watch on
Taliban members pose for a photo after they took over Panjshir Valley, the only province the group had not seized during its sweep last month in Afghanistan
A member of the Taliban rides on the back of a vehicle after they took over Panjshir Valley