Taliban reportedly allowing charter flights to depart Kabul airport

On Thursday, a US official who spoke on condition of anonymously told Reuters that the Taliban's interim government made the decision to allow flights to take off after being pressured by US Special Representative Zalmay Khalilzad.

Since formally leaving Afghanistan, the US has been pressuring the Taliban to allow Americans stuck in the country to depart via charter flights.

During a White House press briefing on Wednesday, Fox News' Peter Doocy grilled Jen Psaki on the issue of grounded charter flights, asking the press secretary whose fault it is that the US can no longer do much on the ground in Afghanistan.

"I don't think this is about fault here," Psaki responded. "I think what people want to understand is what we're doing to help address it. There's a handful of Americans, and I'm sure you're not suggesting we should have flights with hundreds of people. We don't know who they are, where there's no security protocols."

Psaki made clear that the Biden administration does not see the Taliban as "respected and valued members of the global community," however she added that "because they oversee and control Afghanistan right now ... we have to engage with them" in order to "get American citizens, legal permanent residents, as SIV applicants out."

When asked about the issue by another reporter, Psaki said the US doesn't "have a role in preventing flights from taking off," adding that the charter flights are only carrying "a handful of American citizens," thus security and logistical concerns regarding the movement of non-Americans is of concern.

The move to allow flights to depart comes just two days after the Taliban announced the creation of their new interim government. Concerns have been voiced by the US State Department regarding the fact that the new regime's leadership is made up entirely of men, despite promising to include women. "The Afghan people deserve an inclusive government," a department spokesperson said.

Reuters also reports that while the Taliban claimed they would make their government more diverse, "nearly all" the ministers are Pashtuns, an ethnic group that makes up less than half of Afghanistan's population.