Over a thousand stuck at Afghan airport for flight clearance

LWashington: Around a thousand people are stuck in the Mazar-i-Sharif airport in Afghanistan for days waiting for clearance for their chartered flight, reports Reuters. The agency adds that the charter flights organiser is blaming US State Department for the delay.

The organiser reportedly said that the State Department had failed to tell the Taliban its approval for flight departures from Mazar-i-Sharif or validate a landing site. He said that the department needs to be held accountable for putting the stranded groups' , which include Americans, lives in danger.

However, Reuters adds that it could not independently verify the details of the organiser's account.

Meanwhile, a US official said that their government has not confirmed that Americans are in Mazar-i-Sharif waiting to leave. About chartered flights, a State Department spokesperson said that the US did not have personnel on the ground and no means to confirm the details of charter flights, including the number of US citizens and others on board or where they plan to land. He didn't address specific accusations. The spokesperson assured that they would hold the Taliban to its pledge of allowing those who wish to leave Afghanistan.

On Sunday, Mike McCaul, senior Republican in the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, told media that six aeroplanes were stuck in the Mazar-i-Shareef airport with Americans. They are not able to take off as they had not yet received the Taliban's clearance. Taliban has taken them "hostage for demand", he claimed.

Another Republican representative, Mike Waltz, asked the State Department to work with non-government groups who are trying to clear charter flights to evacuate Americans and Afghans at risk.