A group of Afghan girls participating in a robotics competition in the United States have been granted visas to attend it, after their initial applications were rejected, AP reported on Thursday. Visas denied earlier to a team from Gambia have also been granted.

US President Donald Trump had intervened to enable the six girls to get US visas, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said. Homeland Security Department spokesman David Lapan said the visas for the Afghan girls had been approved after a request by the State Department.

“I am most grateful to the US Government and its state department for ensuring Afghanistan, as well as Gambia, would be able to join us for this international competition this year,” Joe Sestak, president of non-profit group First Global, which is organising the competition, said.

Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump tweeted that she looked forward to welcoming the Afghan team to Washington.

Afghanistan is not in the list of countries whose citizens are facing entry restrictions imposed by the Trump administration. Ironically, “Team Hope” from Syria and those from Iran and Sudan – three countries that feature in US President Trump’s travel ban order – had been granted visas.

The ball-sorting robotic competition will take place from July 16 to 18.