Afghanistan updates: US, Taliban hold first direct talks since withdrawal

The United States has "many means" of gathering intelligence in Afghanistan despite not having boots on the ground, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said Friday.

"We no longer have troops in Afghanistan, but we have other resources to learn information on the ground and we certainly use those resources to the best of our abilities," Mayorkas told ABC News' George Stephanopoulos in an interview on "Good Morning America."

"We are quite creative and quite capable of learning information from coast-to-coast and all over the world," he added.

Mayorkas noted that the U.S. government is watching the potentially re-emerging terrorist threat in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan "very closely."

"We watch the threat landscape all over the world," he added. "We have built an entire architect to protect, to safeguard the American people."

But the greatest threat to the U.S. homeland is currently domestic terrorism, according to Mayorkas.

"Individuals who are prone to violence by reason of an ideology of hate or false narratives that we see on social media or other online platforms," he said. "I think it's a sad thing to see hate emerge, as we have observed it emerge over the last several years."

With the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks approaching, Mayorkas said the government is not aware of any "specific credible threats targeting the United States" on the somber date.

"But we are vigilant," he added. "We watch the information, we learn information; but at this point in time, we don't know of any threat on the anniversary."

More than 30 U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents were invited by the U.S. to be passengers on the first chartered flight out of Kabul since the American evacuation mission ended, but not all said yes. Some said no because of medical reasons, extended family members or their desire for more time, among other reasons, according to State Department spokesperson Ned Price.

Price said he could not give an exact number of those who did make Thursday's flight to Qatar. 

Echoing an earlier statement from the National Security Council, Price said he welcomed the Qatari Airways departure from Kabul. He said he hopes and expects more flights will be allowed to continue in the days to come.

National Security Council spokesperson Emily Horne has confirmed that U.S. citizens and permanent residents were among the passengers on the first charter flight to leave the airport in Kabul since Qatar took over operations at the airport and that they have safely landed in Qatar.

The statement offered no passenger numbers, so it's unclear how many U.S. citizens were on board, but it did provide some praise for the Taliban's cooperation.

"The Taliban have been cooperative in facilitating the departure of American citizens and lawful permanent residents on charter flights from HKIA. They have shown flexibility, and they have been businesslike and professional in our dealings with them in this effort. This is a positive first step," the statement said. 

-ABC News' Sarah Kolinovsky

The United States has not seen evidence that the Taliban’s newly formed government will be as inclusive as promised, and it appears to be "more of the same" with "many of the same actors," according to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

"I think the whole international community was hopeful that they would be inclusive as they kind of said they would be weeks and months ago," Austin told a small group of reporters traveling with him to the Middle East. "But we've not seen evidence of that early on, and so it appears to be many of the same actors."

Austin said the U.S. and the international community would continue "to listen to what they're saying, but we're watching what they're doing and right now it just seems that it's more of the same."

The Taliban’s new government includes several leaders of the Haqqani network, which has been directly tied to violent attacks against American troops over the last two decades, including the group’s de facto leader Sirajuddin Haqqani, who was named as interior minister.

"They want sanctions lifted, and that sort of business so they have goals and aspirations," said Austin. "If they demonstrate that they're going to harbor terrorism, and in Afghanistan, all of that will be very very difficult for them to achieve."