US officials destroyed Afghans' passports as they evacuated the Kabul embassy
Afghan passports were among the sensitive items destroyed as US officials shut their Kabul embassy.
The passports would have belonged to Afghans trying to get visas out of the country.
The State Department said it was standard procedure and wouldn't prevent evacuations.
Passports belonging to Afghans trying to leave their country were among the sensitive items destroyed by staff evacuating the US Embassy in Kabul as the country fell to the Taliban over the weekend.
Rep. Andy Kim, a Democrat from New Jersey, shared this news in an email he's been sending out to people looking for help getting out of Afghanistan, according to CNN and ABC News reported.
"Visa and passport appointments at the Embassy have been canceled, and passports that were in the Embassy's possession have been destroyed. Currently, it is not possible to provide any further visa services in Afghanistan," he wrote.
"The Department of State advises all people waiting for processing to find shelter and wait for further instructions. They should not go to the airport until they are called to do so and should follow the instructions carefully."
The State Department did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment Wednesday morning.
But a department spokesperson confirmed the news to ABC News, saying destroying the passports was "standard operating procedure" during an evacuation and "will not prevent people who are otherwise eligible for evacuation from traveling."
The passports at the US embassy would have belonged to Afghans trying to get approved for visas.
In recent weeks, lines outside passport offices have stretched far as Afghans vied for a means out of the country as the Taliban rose to power again, according to Al Jazeera. Many feared for their lives under Taliban rule, particularly if they had worked with the US and its allies.
Rep. Tom Malinowski, another Democrat from New Jersey, told CNN that US officials will have to come up with other ways to verify the identity of Afghans whose passports were destroyed, saying one possible way would be through their phone numbers on file.
"In many cases we know their contact information and their phone numbers and that is how we will have to identify them. Any Afghans braving the trip to the airport will not have wanted to go there with identifying documents, anyway," Malinowski told CNN.
Meanwhile, UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said Monday that the UK would be allowing Afghan asylum seekers into Britain without a passport, to make it easier for Afghans who had worked with the British to get out of the country, The Telegraph reported.
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