Biden administration’s chaotic Afghan withdrawal to be probed by IG: Report

An inspector general-ranked officer of the US State Department will probe evacuation of American embassy in Kabul, Fox News reported on Monday.

The officer will also look at other things, including State Department’s special immigrant visa program and the processing of Afghans cleared for admission into the US as refugees, the Fox News report further said.

The development was first reported by Politico, which quoted State Department and congressional officials. It also reported that Secretary of State Antony Blinken received an action memorandum on October 15, detailing the investigations into emergency evacuation of the US Embassy in Kabul “to include evacuation of US citizens and Afghan nationals” and other things.

Diana Shaw, the State Department’s acting inspector general, notified Congress of her office’s actions on Monday, Fox News reported. She also said in separate letter also informed the Congress that her office is launching “several oversight projects” related to the end of US mission in Afghanistan, according to Fox News.

Other inspector generals from other department, like defence, are also likely to launch similar investigations.

The Taliban swept across Afghanistan in August, seizing control of almost all key towns and cities in the backdrop of withdrawal of the US forces that began on May 1. On August 15, the capital city of Kabul fell to the insurgents.

The final days of the withdrawal of American troops turned chaotic, with thousands who had worked with the US and its allies, remaining in the war-torn country. President Joe Biden defended his handling of the withdrawal, calling the US airlift to extract more than 120,000 Americans, Afghans and other allies from Afghanistan to end a 20-year war an “extraordinary success”.

Biden has faced tough questions about the way the US went about leaving Afghanistan. He is under heavy criticism, particularly from Republicans, for his handling of the evacuation.

Congressional committees, whose interest in the war waned over the years, held public hearings on what went wrong in the final months of the US withdrawal.