Flight carrying Americans from Kabul departs UAE bound for U.S.

FILE PHOTO: Taliban soldiers stand in front of a sign at the international airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, September 9, 2021. WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS

DUBAI (Reuters) - A group of American citizens and lawful permanent residents evacuated to the United Arab Emirates from Afghanistan flew out of the Gulf state bound for the United States on Thursday, the country's foreign ministry said, after being temporarily held up for vetting.

The Department of Homeland Security had denied U.S. landing rights for a charter plane carrying more than 100 evacuees, said organisers of that earlier flight -- one of several that emerged from ad hoc networks that formed to bolster last month's chaotic evacuation operation from Afghanistan.