By Raf Sanchez, Chantal Da Silva and Mushtaq Yusufzai - NBC News
The Taliban have allowed about 200 citizens of the United States and other countries to leave Afghanistan on a flight to Qatar on Thursday, two sources familiar with the matter told NBC News.
Officials confirmed the news reported by Reuters news agency, on condition of anonymity, and said the flight is expected to land in Doha this Thursday.
It was unclear how many of those who were leaving were Americans, these sources added.
[Biden defends the tragic exit of the United States from Afghanistan: "It was to leave or to escalate"]
The departure - the
first international passenger flight from Kabul since the US withdrawal
- comes amid growing fear by those left behind in Afghanistan.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told NBC News that the militant group would not hinder anyone who wanted to leave Afghanistan, as long as they had valid travel documents.
Afghan women's rights defenders protest to call on the Taliban to preserve their achievements and education, in front of the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, on September 3, 2021.REUTERS / Stringer
A State Department spokesperson told NBC News they were "not in a position to share additional details" about the flights.
"Our efforts to help American citizens and others with whom we have a special commitment are underway," they said.
The United States even evacuated 124,000 people from the country, including Afghans at risk, but Joe Biden's government acknowledged, at the end of its evacuation efforts on August 30, that it was unable to remove "all of us who wanted to remove ".
[The image of this military plane taking off from Afghanistan symbolizes the end of a 20-year war]
The president said last week that between 100 and 200 Americans "with some intention of leaving" remained stranded in Afghanistan.
It is unclear whether those expected to be on Thursday's flight to Doha include American civilians and other foreign nationals who were stranded for days in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif because their private charter flights had their departure blocked. , according to Reuters.
The Taliban's promise to allow international flights to depart Kabul comes amid
warnings of an impending humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan,
as life-saving aid dwindles and reports of the Taliban's crackdown on the dissidents and journalists.
Two journalists reported being beaten by militants
after covering a protest for women's rights in the Afghan capital.
Nemat Naqdi, 28, and Taqi Daryabi, 22, both from the Etilaatroz newspaper, were covering the protest when Taliban fighters detained them and took them to a Kabul police station, according to the outlet they work for.
The journalists were placed in separate cells before being beaten with a wire, according to Etilaatroz, and photos taken after the incident show the bodies of Naqdi and Daryabi covered in welts.
Taqi Daryabi, a 22-year-old video editor for the Etilaat Roz newspaper, beaten by the Taliban during his imprisonment, shows his bruises, at the newspaper's office in Kabul, Afghanistan, September 9, 2021. West Asia News Agency via REUTERS
In a telephone interview with NBC News on Thursday, Patricia Gossman, associate director for Asia at Human Rights Watch, whose team spoke with the two journalists' families, said the Taliban were not following through on their promise to allow the media to communication continued to operate in Afghanistan.
"This is the point where the Taliban are still seeking international recognition ... so I think the message should be very clear from (the international community) that this kind of behavior is not going to get them very far." said.
Late on Wednesday, the Taliban imposed strict restrictions on demonstrations.
[Proud 'marine', affectionate daughter: a family mourns a young Latina murdered in Afghanistan]
Although Clark believes that the protesters are putting themselves in danger in hopes of gaining more rights under the Taliban government, he said it is unclear how the militant group will react if the demonstrations continue.
"These people are very, very brave," he said, referring to the protesters.
Meanwhile, humanitarian groups have warned of an impending humanitarian crisis as "life-saving aid" continues to decline, and the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday that a pause in funding for the Sehatmandi project, the "Backbone of Afghanistan's healthcare system" could put more than 2,000, or 90% of healthcare facilities at risk of closure.
Taliban fighters stand guard at Hamid Karzai International Airport following the US withdrawal in Kabul, Afghanistan, on August 31, 2021.AP / Kathy Gannon
China announced Thursday that it would offer at least $ 31 million in emergency aid, including COVID-19 vaccines, to Afghanistan.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi announced the aid increase on Wednesday during a meeting with the foreign ministers of Afghanistan's neighboring countries.