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State Department Responds To Report That US Officials Handed Over Names Of Americans To Taliban

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Dylan Housman Deputy News Editor
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State Department spokesman Ned Price denied Friday that the U.S. is sharing personal information of evacuees in Afghanistan with the Taliban in a way that “exposes anyone to additional risk.”

Price did not outright deny that U.S. officials have shared personal information, including names, of American and Afghan individuals whom the U.S. are trying to evacuate from Kabul, which was reported initially by Politico Thursday. Thursday evening, President Joe Biden did not deny the report, stating that he doesn’t know of specific lists of names that have been shared with the Taliban, but that may be something that has happened.

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“What I can say, is that the idea that we are providing names, or personally identifiable information, to the Taliban in a way that exposes anyone to additional risk, that is simply wrong,” Price said when asked about the report. “We have developed and implemented effective tactics to be in a position to facilitate the safe passage of individuals to the Kabul airport.” (RELATED: State Department Won’t Answer If Taliban Should Get Afghan Seat At United Nations)

One former Army Captain accused U.S. officials of giving the Taliban a “kill list” in an interview Friday. The Taliban, whom the U.S. is relying on to allow safe passage to the airport and to guard the facility against terror attacks, has reportedly harassed and beaten some Americans trying to reach the airport and is hunting down and killing some Afghans who worked with the United States during its 20-year military mission in the country.