Some 100,000 Afghan US Allies Forsaken To Taliban Rule; Including Interpreter That Saved Biden In 2008

The U.S. has left behind thousands of special immigrant visa (SIV) applicants in Afghanistan following America's hasty exodus after Kabul fell to the Taliban on Aug. 15, a State Department official revealed on Wednesday.

The Taliban invasion of Kabul sparked a mammoth evacuation process among foreign forces as thousands of Afghans flocked to the Hamid Karzai International Airport in the capital in a bid to flee the country, the Business Insider reported.

Last week, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said that the U.S. managed to evacuate about 7,000 SIV applicants. However, the individuals and their families who were in Kabul on Aug. 15 when the Taliban took control of the capital may be as many as 100,000.

Officials said that America's mission to aid the most vulnerable Afghans met hurdles following a spate of threats of a terrorist attack, the limited entry points to the Kabul International Airport, and Taliban-controlled checkpoints leading to the airfield.

Many Afghans who helped the U.S. during their 20-year military blitz in the South Asian country are desperately pleading with troops to bring them to safety.

It includes a 36-year-old interpreter who was among those who rescued President Joe Biden, then a senator, when he got stranded in a remote part of the Afghanistan valley during a snowstorm in 2008, the Daily Beast noted.

“Hello Mr. President: Save me and my family,” the interpreter, identified only as Mohammed, said. “Don’t forget me here.”

In 2008, Mohammed, who was stationed at Bagram Air Field, joined Army Humvees and three Blackwater SUVs in search of two U.S Army Black Hawk helicopters carrying Biden, who was then a senator from Delaware, and former senators John Kerry and Chuck Hagel after the group was forced to make an emergency landing in a remote Afghanistan valley.

On Tuesday, the White House reiterated President Biden’s pledge to use diplomacy to safely evacuate remaining allies still in Afghanistan who wish to abandon the land, according to the USA Today.

Biden further noted that some 200 Americans left behind in Afghanistan will be able to return home soon.

“We will get you out, we will honor your service, and we're committed to doing exactly that,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said.

In May, some 20,000 Afghan allies were imminently awaiting special immigrant visa approval and were in the 70,000-mark when family members were included, according to refugee advocacy groups.

In the final days leading to the Aug. 31 deadline, America focused its attention on rescuing American citizens and permanent residents out of Kabul. By Aug. 15, over 20,000 SIV applicants remained in Afghanistan.

"It was no longer a viable credential to differentiate among populations, and we simply did not have the people for that time to be able to try to sift through that crowd of people demanding access," a senior official noted.

Last week, Aug. 26., a suicide bombing near the Kabul airport claimed the lives of at least 169 Afghans and 13 U.S. soldiers members, marking the deadliest day for U.S. military members in Afghanistan since 2011.