Report: US Gave Taliban Names of Americans, Afghan Allies to Evacuate

(Rahmat Gul/AP)

By Fran Beyer | Thursday, 26 August 2021 06:07 PM

The Taliban got the names from U.S. officials of American citizens, green card holders and Afghan allies who’d be allowed into the militant-controlled perimeter of the Kabul airport — permission that outraged critics called a ''kill list," Politico reported.

Citing three unnamed U.S. and congressional sources, Politico said the move was designed to expedite the evacuation the tens of thousands fleeing Afghanistan in the wake of the Taliban takeover.

''Basically, they just put all those Afghans on a kill list,'' one unnamed defense official told Politico. ''It’s just appalling and shocking and makes you feel unclean.''

A spokesperson for U.S. Central Command declined to comment.

According to Politico, the issue came up at a classified briefing on Capitol Hill, and turned ugly when top Biden administration officials defended their coordination with the Taliban. Biden officials contended that it was the best way to keep Americans and Afghans safe and prevent a shooting war between Taliban fighters and U.S. troops at the airport, Politico reported.

''They had to do that because of the security situation the White House created by allowing the Taliban to control everything outside the airport,'' one unnamed U.S. official told the news outlet.

But after thousands of visa applicants arrived at the airport, overwhelming the capacity of the U.S. to process them, the State Department changed course — asking the applicants not to come to the airport and instead requesting they wait until they were cleared for entry.

From then on, the list fed to the Taliban didn’t include Afghan names, Politico reported, and as of Aug. 25, only U.S. passport and green card holders were being accepted as eligible for evacuation.

The Biden administration has been coordinating the evacuation effort and airport security with the Taliban, Politico noted.

After the Islamic State terror attacks near the airport Thursday, in which 12 U.S. servicemen were killed, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Bob Menendez, D-N.J., appeared to criticize that coordination, stating, ''As we wait for more details to come in, one thing is clear: We can’t trust the Taliban with Americans’ security.''