US News

State Department reportedly silent as volunteers take charge in Afghan evacuations

With over 300 Americans stuck in Afghanistan, volunteer groups have taken charge in helping those who wish to evacuate leave the country — while the State Department has reportedly been mum on a plan to get citizens and allies to the US.

Task Force Argo, an organization of around 150 volunteers and 4,000 on their backfill manifest comprised of Defense Department personnel, active-duty service members, veterans and intelligence analysts, has been working to evacuate as many Americans and Afghan allies out of the Taliban-run country as possible since the US ended official evacuation efforts in August. 

Despite facilitating the evacuation of roughly 1,800 people, members of the group warn that their work is “not sustainable” without State Department assistance. 

“We look forward to the State Department telling us exactly what the pipeline and the plan is for American citizens, green card holders, and SIV-approved folks in Afghanistan, because we still don’t know,” member Jesse Jensen, a former JSOC ground force commander, told the Washington Examiner

“We also look forward to them negotiating lily-pad countries for these folks to stay while they get screened and background checks are completed before they can come to the United States.”

In its efforts, Task Force Argo has used a series of safe houses in the country to hide potential evacuees as they gather proper documentation to leave. Once the correct documentation is obtained, the evacuees are loaded onto buses, taken to an airport and flown to a friendly neighboring country. 

A group of Afghans wait to board a Qatar airways flight.
Task Force Argo warns that its work is “not sustainable” without State Department assistance.  Anne Levasseur/AFP via Getty Images

Per Jensen, the organization “coordinated everything digitally across secure encrypted chat rooms with no real command and control structure other than a group of volunteers that have come together to rescue folks in need.” 

He cited “personal relationships” as another way they “negotiated safe passage and safe harbor.” 

To assist in the evacuations, members of volunteer groups like Task Force Argo and the Special Operations Association of America have put in their own resources while raising money through merchandise. 

The evacuation efforts come around two months after the US completed the full troop withdrawal on Aug. 31 and ended formal evacuation efforts for Americans and Afghan allies, leaving thousands in the country. 

Jensen told the Washington Examiner that the end of the Afghan war, which ended with the withdrawal, was an “unmitigated disaster,” calling it an “absolute failure.” 

In recent weeks, the State Department has been vague on how many Americans and Afghan allies remained in Afghanistan, prompting more criticism over the US’ handling of the crisis. 

U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad.
Former US special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad said that “hundreds” of Americans could still be in Afghanistan. Jonathan Ernst/REUTERS

On Friday, however, the department informed congressional staffers it has been in contact with 368 Americans who remain in Afghanistan — 178 of whom want to leave, a substantially higher number than the Biden administration previously said were left behind. 

Administration officials previously stated that roughly 100 Americans who wanted to be evacuated remained in the area. 

The official number of Afghan allies left behind has not been released, but some organizations working to resettle them in the US have said the number could be as high as 75,000.

Still, some are taking the State Department’s number with a grain of salt. 

Zalmay Khalilzad, the former US special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation, told CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday that “hundreds” of Americans could be remaining.

“Truth of the matter is, we don’t know … but my judgment is there could be still hundreds of Americans there,” he said.