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Biden gave Taliban list of US personnel, Afghan allies names: Report

Biden administration officials have defended their close cooperation with the Taliban, noting that it was essential for the safe evacuation of U.S. troops from Kabul.

By Tobias Siegal, World Israel News

President Joe Biden and his administration are under fire after reportedly providing Taliban forces in Afghanistan the details of of U.S. military personnel and Afghan allies.

According to a report by Politico published Thursday, U.S. officials in Kabul gave the Taliban a detailed list of names of American citizens, green card holders and Afghan allies, in order to allow them access to a certain area of the Kabul airport and expedite the ongoing evacuation efforts from the country.

The move has prompted heavy criticism by lawmakers and military officials alike, especially after a double suicide bombing killed over 100 people, including 13 U.S. military personnel, and injured dozens of others at the Kabul airport.

“Basically, they just put all those Afghans on a kill list,” a U.S. defense official told Politico. “It’s just appalling and shocking and makes you feel unclean.”

When asked to comment on the issue during a Thursday press conference addressing the attacks at Kabul, Biden indicated that the U.S. has on different occasions provided the Taliban with information about American citizens and U.S. Afghan allies.

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“There have been occasions when our military has contacted their military counterparts in the Taliban and said this, for example, this bus is coming through with X number of people on it, made up of the following group of people. We want you to let that bus or that group through,” Biden said. “So, yes there have been occasions like that.

“I can’t tell you with any certitude that there’s actually been a list of names,” he noted, adding that “There may have been … It could very well have happened.”

Such a list would point to a potential miscalculation by the White House regarding the necessary scope of cooperation with the Taliban, considering recent reports that have indicated that Taliban dead squads have been going door-to-door in search of Afghan collaborators and U.S. allies.

Biden administration officials have defended their close cooperation with the Taliban, noting that it was essential for the safe evacuation of U.S. troops from Kabul. “They had to do that because of the security situation the White House created by allowing the Taliban to control everything outside the airport,” a U.S. official told Politico.

Biden has stood behind the decision to allow the Taliban to secure the airport. When asked about the issue he clarified that while “no one trusts them … it’s a matter of mutual self-interest,” arguing that it is in the interest of the Taliban that ISIS-K, the affiliate of the Islamic State in Afghanistan, “does not metastasize beyond what it is.”