Top U.S. officials are headed to the Middle East as the Biden administration grapples for ways to continue getting American citizens and Afghan partners out of the country now that all U.S. forces have left, while looking toward future relations with the Taliban-controlled government.

       Up to 200 American citizens and thousands of Afghans who worked for U.S. forces over the past 20 years remained in the country when the last American troops left last week following an emergency evacuation that was marked by disarray and confusion after the U.S.-backed Afghan government collapsed.

       The State Department and White House have said they would continue helping Americans and others leave Afghanistan, but haven't spelled out how people will be able to get out of the country.

       “There are a lot of extremely complex logistical issues to address and coordinate," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday at the State Department. “We’re working through them as quickly and as methodically as we possibly can."

       Mr. Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin are due to leave Sunday on separate trips to meet local officials, express U.S. gratitude for help with the evacuation and discuss ways to assist others in leaving Afghanistan. The U.S. and its allies evacuated more than 124,000 people out of Afghanistan on a combination of military, commercial and charter flights in the final weeks of the mission.

       Messrs. Blinken and Austin are both scheduled to begin their trips in Doha, Qatar, the site of the U.S. diplomatic and consular office serving Afghanistan since the closure of the U.S. Embassy, as well as the location of diplomatic exchanges with the Taliban in recent years.

       The Biden administration officials aren’t expected to meet Taliban officials while in Doha. “We’re not at that stage," a State Department official said. Mr. Blinken’s predecessor as secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, met Taliban leader Abdul Ghani Baradar last year in Doha to complete a Trump administration agreement for U.S. forces to leave Afghanistan.

       Mr. Blinken is also expected to travel to Germany, while Mr. Austin will visit Kuwait, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, officials said. Kuwait and Bahrain, like Qatar and others, aided in the U.S. airlift by temporarily housing thousands of Americans, third-country nationals and Afghans.

       The Biden administration visits “will underscore our enduring partnerships with these countries as well as our deep gratitude for their support for our ongoing efforts on Afghanistan," another State Department official said Friday.

       The overseas trips come after a series of phone calls to allies recently by Biden administration officials. Mr. Blinken and administration officials, including Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough, met virtually Friday with military-veterans groups to thank them for their efforts to help Afghans and discuss other aspects of the U.S. withdrawal.

       Mr. Blinken also met with U.S. diplomats and other officials, holding two town-hall meetings Friday, one with staff members of the U.S. Embassy in Kabul and a second, broader gathering with department officials, according to people familiar with the meetings.

       The meetings had emotional overtones, according to the people familiar with them, with some participants urging department leaders not to forget Afghan visa applicants and their families who remained in Afghanistan.

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       A State Department official said last week that more than half of Afghan visa applicants who had worked with U.S. forces were left behind in the evacuation.

       Ross Wilson, the acting U.S. ambassador in Kabul, joined Mr. Blinken virtually at the smaller session Friday. Mr. Wilson thanked embassy staffers for their efforts in the final weeks of the U.S. presence in Afghanistan, and urged staffers to use the department’s resources to address any trauma or discomfort, according to the people familiar with the meetings.

       While in Germany this week, Mr. Blinken is expected to meet with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas and take part in a virtual gathering with officials from other countries on Afghanistan.

       Mr. Austin’s visit to the Middle East will be his first since the Taliban swept through Afghanistan and reclaimed control of the country, culminating with the Aug. 15 fall of Kabul.

       During the trip, Mr. Austin will meet with Marines who worked alongside the 13 troops killed and 20 injured during a suicide bombing at Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport on Aug. 26, defense officials said. The bombing was the deadliest attack in Afghanistan for U.S. forces in a decade.

       This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text

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