White House NatSec Advisor Jake Sullivan Says ‘Several Thousand Americans’ Remain in Afghanistan

White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the amount of Americans who are still in Afghanistan remains in the thousands.

CNN’s Brianna Keilar guest-anchored State of the Union on Sunday, and she spoke to Sullivan about the ongoing attempts to evacuate people from Kabul amid the chaos of the Taliban’s takeover. Asked how many know Americans and legal permanent residents are still trying to flee Afghanistan, Sullivan did not give a precise number, but “we believe it is several thousand Americans we are working with now to try to get safely out of the country.”

Sullivan said the reason why he couldn’t be more precise was due to logistical issues involved with confirming the exact number with the U.S. embassy’s registry before it was shut down this month. This prompted Keilar to ask Sullivan if he could get a sense of the number based on how many Americans are petitioning the government for an update on family members in the country.

“As I’ve said, we’ve been in contact with a few thousand Americans,” Sullivan said, “and we are working hard to make arrangements, make plans with each of those people and each of their families to get them safely to the airport and get them out.”

The interview continued with Keilar pressing Sullivan on what kinds of special operations are underway to facilitate evacuations, and whether the government can guarantee that they’ll also be able to relocate Afghans who are also trying to flee from the Taliban’s rule.

Watch above, via CNN.