Around 1,000 people, including dozens of American citizens and Afghans holding visas to the United States or other countries, remained stuck in Afghanistan for the fifth day on Sunday as they awaited clearance for the departure from the Taliban. The holdup reflects the challenges of foreign governments working with the group, which has yet to form a government.

Negotiations to allow the planes to depart, involving officials of the Taliban, the United States and Qatar, have dragged on for days, leaving the evacuees in an increasingly precarious limbo, according to representatives of organizations trying to get them to safety…

“The reason the Taliban wants to prevent these people from leaving is likely because they intend to punish them for their cooperation with the U.S.,” said Mick Mulroy, a former senior Pentagon official who has been working with the group Task Force Dunkirk to help evacuate Afghans from the country. If the Taliban really are using people as a bargaining chip, Mr. Mulroy said, that “is unacceptable.”…

But the State Department and organizers on the ground in Qatar countered Mr. McCaul’s description of the situation, saying that the planes had received necessary clearance and were awaiting final approval from the Taliban.