The U.S. has made contact with 500 Americans who remain in Afghanistan and want to get out, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday, less than one week before the Aug. 31 U.S. deadline to withdraw from the country. Blinken said the U.S. has evacuated 4,500 U.S. passport holders since Aug. 14 out of 6,000 Americans the State Department believes were in Afghanistan at that time. He said the department is “aggressively reaching out” to the other 1,000 Americans who might still be in Afghanistan. "Since Aug. 14, we've reached out directly to every American enrolled with us in Afghanistan, often multiple times,” Blinken said. He added that the State Department is working on how to facilitate departures for Americans in Afghanistan who wish to leave after Aug. 31. "Those who want to leave, it does not end with the military evacuation plan on Aug. 31. We are very focused on what we need to do to facilitate the further departure of people who wish to leave Afghanistan. That is primarily going to be a diplomatic effort," he said. The Biden administration had previously declined to estimate the number of Americans still in Afghanistan because of registration discrepancies at the U.S. embassy when Americans arrived in the country or left. #afghanistan #news