US to Begin Evacuating Afghan Allies in Late July

The Biden administration will begin evacuation flights in late July for Afghans and their families who helped the U.S., according to an anonymous senior White House official cited by several outlets. They will be sent to locations outside of the U.S. to wait for the State Department to finish processing their special immigrant visas. The news comes a week after President Joe Biden announced that all American troops would be out of Afghanistan by August 31. While the Taliban continues to make advances in the country, leaders from the Afghan government and the Taliban have agreed to meet in Doha, Qatar for peace talks. In an interview with German news outlet Deutsche Welle released Wednesday, former President George W. Bush criticized the Afghanistan withdrawal, saying, “I’m afraid Afghan women and girls are going to suffer unspeakable harm.” 

Coverage of the evacuation flights was mostly balanced across the spectrum. Some coverage attributed the flight schedule to Biden himself, rather than the overall Biden administration or the U.S. as a country.