As the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan is set for Tuesday, August 31, the Taliban has assured the U.S. and 97 other countries that their citizens will still be allowed to leave Afghanistan after the deadline.
All countries involved released a joint statement Sunday saying, “We are all committed to ensuring that our citizens, nationals and residents, employees, Afghans who have worked with us and those who are at risk can continue to travel freely to destinations outside Afghanistan”.
They also explained that they have “received assurances from the Taliban that all foreign nationals and any Afghan citizen with travel authorization from our countries will be allowed to proceed in a safe and orderly manner to points of departure and travel outside the country”.
The statement was signed by more than half of the world’s nations, the European Union, and NATO.
The nations added that they have “the clear expectation of and commitment from the Taliban that they can travel to our respective countries”.
Two signatures were absent from the statement. Russia and China, who are part of the United Nation’s Security Council, have promised to help the Taliban rebuild Afghanistan after their group’s takeover.
