The U.S. Gave the Taliban An Evacuation List, Not A "Kill List"

MENA: The United States has been working with the Taliban to evacuate U.S. citizens and others trying to leave Afghanistan. According to Politico.com, “The Biden administration has been coordinating the evacuation effort and airport security with the Taliban, which is running the checkpoints outside the airport’s outer perimeter. Officials have been ‘in daily communication’ with Taliban commanders about who to let in, Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby told reporters this week.”

According to Politico, “In the earliest days of the evacuation, the joint U.S. military and diplomatic coordination team at the airport provided the Taliban with a list of people the U.S. aimed to evacuate.” 

Biden could not say with any certainty that there’s actually been a list of names. According to the President: “There may have been. But I know of no circumstance. It doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist, that here’s the names of 12 people, they’re coming, let them through. It could very well have happened.” 

In the final days of the evacuation from Afghanistan, the U.S. has had to rely on the Taliban to keep soldiers and evacuees safe. According to the Wall Street Journal: “The 5,200 American forces in Afghanistan use the Taliban as a tool to protect us as much as possible,” Gen. Frank McKenzie, head of the U.S. Central Command, said. “The Taliban and the U.S.,” he added, “now share a common purpose.”

It appears uncertain whether an actual list of names was given to the Taliban. What is certain is that as the deadline for troop removal from Afghanistan approaches, more and more cooperation is happening between the Taliban and the U.S. in the evacuation mission to keep soldiers and civilians as safe as possible, especially from ISIS. It is very likely that behind the scenes there is a good amount of information sharing between the U.S. and Taliban to assist in the operation.