Senior U.S. military officials in Afghanistan say U.S. Special Operations retrieved 16 American citizens from outside the Kabul airport early Monday morning.

The military officials would not detail where in Afghanistan the Americans were rescued from but they said it was about two hours outside the Hamid Karzai International Airport. The Americans were brought back to Kabul for evacuation processing.

The officials, who commented only on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations, said the rescue missions that go beyond the walls of the Kabul airport require the approval of a four-star officer and are handled on a case-by-case basis…

In a video conference last week, President Biden and White House officials spoke with commanders in Afghanistan about sortie flight missions outside the Kabul Airport. The president said he wanted to avoid a “Black Hawk Down’” incident, according to U.S. military officials on the conference call and briefed on what was said.