<Anchor> The
U.S. Department of Defense expressed gratitude for our government's decision to accept Afghans who helped our government. The United States is engaged in an all-out war to evacuate Afghanistan, and it is known that about 1,000 Americans have lost contact so far.
Correspondent Kim Soo-hyung reports from Washington.
<Reporter> The
U.S. Department of Defense directly expressed its deep gratitude to the Korean government for accepting Afghans who helped Afghanistan's reconstruction project.
[Hank Taylor/Major General of the U.S. Army: I would like to express my deep gratitude to the Korean government for helping with the evacuation operation so that more people can escape.] The
State Department has received 82,300 people at Kabul Airport since August 14 It has been reported that 19,000 people have fled Afghanistan in the last 24 days.
But 1,000 Americans have disclosed that they have lost contact.
[Blincoln/Secretary of State: About 1,000 Americans left may be trying to leave Afghanistan. We are actively trying to reach them several times a day.]
Secretary of State Blincoln said the Taliban had agreed to allow Americans and at-risk Afghans to leave even after the 31-day deadline for withdrawal.
As the evacuation deadline approaches in six days, some U.S. troops who were conducting an evacuation operation from Kabul Airport also began to withdraw.
With a significant number of Americans still out of contact in Afghanistan, criticism continues in the United States as to how they can withdraw if they go to the military.