The State Department is offering potential refugee status to new categories of Afghans who assisted the United States during the war in Afghanistan, including those who worked for news media and nongovernmental organizations.
The department announced Monday that the action was meant to protect Afghans "who may be at risk due to their U.S. affiliation" but who were not eligible for a special immigrant visa program that has begun to resettle thousands of Afghans and their family members.
The White House has been under heavy pressure to protect Afghans who worked with the U.S. military over the past 20 years and who may be in danger from Taliban reprisals as the United States withdraws its troops from Afghanistan.
The first planeload of more than 200 Afghan interpreters, drivers and others who aided the U.S. military arrived last week in the Washington area for resettlement as part of a government initiative under two congressionally-devised special visa programs.
Congress created the Special Immigrant Visa program to give refuge to Afghans and Iraqis who helped the U.S. military. But the State Department's action Monday reflects concern that the program still leaves vulnerable many Afghans with U.S. ties.
Last month, a coalition of news media organizations sent letters to President Joe Biden and congressional leaders asking them to take more steps to protect Afghans who had worked as reporters, translators and support staff for U.S. outlets working in Afghanistan.
The letters noted that the Special Immigrant Visa program "does not reach those Afghans who have served U.S. news organizations. Yet they and their families face the same threat of retaliation from the Taliban, which views the American press as a legitimate target."
The Taliban have "long conducted a campaign of threatening and killing journalists," the letter pointed out, estimating that about 1,000 Afghans faced danger as a result of their journalistic affiliations.
The refugee program will also offer protection to Afghans who worked for U.S. government-funded programs and projects in the country, as well as nongovernmental organizations, which the Taliban have long targeted.
The State Department said that Afghans who did not meet the Special Immigrant Visa program's minimum requirements for duration of service would also be eligible for potential refugee status. Those eligible for the program would undergo "extensive security vetting" before they were permitted to resettle in the United States as refugees, the department announced.
Also on Monday, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani blamed the American troops' speedy pullout for the worsening violence in his country and said that his administration would now focus on protecting provincial capitals and major urban areas in the face of the rapidly advancing Taliban.
"An imported, hasty" peace process -- a reference to Washington's push for negotiations between Kabul and the Taliban -- "not only failed to bring peace but created doubt and ambiguity" among Afghans, Ghani said in his address to Parliament.
The Afghan president arrived by helicopter for the session of the house, called because of the dire situation on the ground. The Taliban are now trying to seize provincial capitals after already taking large swaths of land and scores of districts in more rural areas, as well as several key border crossings with neighboring countries.
"The Taliban do not believe in lasting or just peace," Ghani said. He predicted a sea change on the battlefield "in the next six months" that would push the Taliban back, without elaborating.
Hours after the president's remarks, Taliban fighters seized control of Helmand province's government radio and TV building in Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital. Resident Haji Sadullah said they broadcast religious songs and invited people to follow their path for close to an hour on both AM and FM frequencies.
Government officials did not immediately comment. The building is located a quarter mile to the north of the provincial governor's office, which is still under the control of the government along with a few other government installations.
Information for this article was contributed by Michael Crowley of The New York Times and by Tameem Akhgar of The Associated Press.