On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Defense said they were not sure how many family members of U.S. troops were still stranded by the Biden administration, but that there are likely “dozens.”
“The Defense Department is trying to compile a master list of relatives of U.S. troops who may still be in Afghanistan and wanting to leave, per a Nov. 4 memo from the Pentagon’s policy chief,” The Army Times reported. “The memo encourages military or civilian personnel to send a note to a DoD email address created specifically for referrals of Afghan nationals.”
During a press conference on Wednesday, a reporter asked Pentagon spokesman John Kirby for an update on the “number of immediate family members of U.S. service members in Afghanistan.”
“John, can you please update us on — on the number of immediate family members of U.S. service members in Afghanistan?” the reporter asked.
“I don’t have a whole number on that, no,” Kirby said.
“OK. So, I mean, the withdrawal ended on August 30th, and it’s — today is November 10th. I mean, how is it possible that — that the department doesn’t know how many immediate family members are still left?” the reporter asked.
“I didn’t say we didn’t know; I said I don’t have a number for you. We believe it’s certainly most likely in the dozens, but one of the reasons we put the memo out last week was to encourage service members to come forward,” Kirby said.
The news comes the week after reports that 14,000 U.S. legal permanent residents are still stranded in Afghanistan and at least 289 U.S. citizens.
Foreign Policy reported, “The State Department believes as many as 14,000 U.S. legal permanent residents remain in Afghanistan, Foreign Policy has learned, as the agency faces increasing scrutiny from Congress about the status of U.S. citizens and green card holders that are still stranded in the Taliban-controlled country.”
