Biden administration officials are in contact with Americans who chose not to leave Afghanistan, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday.
“We are in touch with a number of these Americans, not everyone, perhaps, but we are in touch,” Ms. Psaki said during a White House press briefing. “We are in touch with as many of them who we can make contact with through a range of means.”
Ms. Psaki said the White House is receiving daily updates on those Americans and evaluating options to get them out of Afghanistan should they choose to leave.
“Some of that may be over land, over borders, some of that may be through airplanes,” Ms. Psaki said. “And so we’re working again with the Qataris and Turks on that. We are working to get the civilian side of the [Kabul] airport operational.”
President Biden said Tuesday afternoon that between 100 to 200 Americans remain in Afghanistan after more than 5,000 were evacuated, although it’s not clear how many chose to stay.
In his remarks from the White House, Mr. Biden said some Americans who decided to stay are longtime residents who have family roots in the country.