Pentagon seems to contradict the White House on Americans in Afghanistan unable to leave

Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby says reports of Americans being beaten by the Taliban are ‘unacceptable’

The Pentagon seemed to contradict the White House on whether Americans currently in Afghanistan are able to leave the country.

Politico’s Andrew Desiderio reported that US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin told members of Congress that Americans in Afghanistan were being beaten by the Taliban and that the secretary called it “unacceptable”.

Politico’s Lauren Seligman later asked Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby about Americans being beaten by the Taliban and whether the US military was under orders to stay at Hamid Karzai international airport and not protect Americans.

“We’re certainly mindful of these reports and they’re deeply troubling,” Mr Kirby said. “And we have communicated to the Taliban that that’s absolutely unacceptable. That we want free passage through their checkpoints for documented Americans.”

The statement appeared to contradict President Joe Biden’s words earlier in the day about Americans being able to leave.

“We’ve made an agreement with the Taliban thus far, they’ve allowed them to go through, it’s in their interest for them to go through,” he said. “So we know of no circumstance where American citizens carrying an American passport are trying to get through to the airport, but we will do whatever needs to be done to see to it that they get to the airport.”