Nearly two dozen California students and parents are among the thousands currently stranded in Afghanistan after taking a summer trip to visit family.
Twenty-three students from the Cajon Valley Union School District, just outside San Diego, are stuck in Kabul with their parents after traveling to the war-torn country, the LA Times reports.
They are trying to make their way to the airport or board one of the US military flights out of Kabul before the Aug. 31 deadline to withdraw US troops arrives.
It was not immediately clear when the families arrived in Afghanistan, but Cajon Valley Superintendent David Miyashiro said they had traveled there on special visas for US military service.
They had gone to the country to visit their extended relatives, including their grandparents.
It was not a school-sanctioned trip, according to the district.
The families had return flights to the US so they could be back for the start of the school year.
Some of the families were on their way to the airport in Kabul when chaos erupted as the Taliban seized control of the city, according to the district.
District officials said the students were safe but it was unclear when they would be able to return to the US.
The district reached out to state and federal officials to help get the families back home.
The students attend different schools within the district.
The race to evacuate Afghanistan escalated this week after President Biden warned of potential terror attacks in Kabul and the Taliban ordered all US troops to be out by Aug. 31.
Biden has insisted the US is “on pace” to withdraw from Afghanistan by that deadline.
Another 11,200 people were evacuated on 42 US military flights out of Kabul in the 24 hours ending Wednesday morning, the White House said. About 7,800 people were also evacuated on allied flights.
Since Aug. 14, about 82,300 people have been evacuated on US military and allied flights, according to the White House.
