The United States has reportedly begun the final phase of evacuations of U.S. citizens and Afghan allies from the Kabul airport. CNN is reporting the evacuations will end on Friday to give the military time to depart ahead of the August 31 withdrawal deadline. The U.S. has helped more than 95,000 people leave Afghanistan over the past 12 days, but as many as 1,500 U.S. citizens remain in Afghanistan. The New York Times is reporting some 250,000 Afghans who worked with the U.S. haven’t been evacuated yet. On Thursday, Secretary of State Tony Blinken vowed the United States would keep helping Americans leave Afghanistan even after troops withdraw on August 31.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken: “There is no deadline on our work to help any remaining American citizens who decide they want to leave to do so, along with the many Afghans who have stood by us over these many years and want to leave and have been unable to do so. That effort will continue every day past August 31st.”