He emphasized that the embassy would remain open and continue to provide consular and humanitarian services. Britain subsequently said it would send troops to Afghanistan to help evacuate its citizens and cooperating Afghans. London is also going to limit the functioning of its embassy. In Afghanistan, the radical Islamist movement Taliban has been rapidly gaining control of more and more territory in recent days.
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According to the ministry, the evacuation of employees from the US embassy will begin in the coming days. The US military will help with it, which is standard practice in combat zones. Price said that reducing the number of civilians at the embassy is a precautionary step, building on previous plans.
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The first of about 3,000 U.S. troops to be in charge of the evacuation is due to arrive in Afghanistan within 24 to 48 hours, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said. According to him, the embassy staff will first be airlifted to Kabul Airport and from there to their homeland. The original plan was that after the end of the US military mission in Afghanistan on August 31, about 650 soldiers will remain in the country guarding the airport and the embassy, Reuters reported.
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Accelerated evacuation of co-workers
According to Price, Washington will also speed up the evacuation of interpreters and other Afghan aides to the US military, who could find themselves in danger if the Taliban gained control. For these people, Washington will send daily evacuation flights in the coming days.
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“Our embassy remains open and our diplomatic mission will last,” Price said at a regular briefing. However, he said the US civilian footprint in Kabul would be limited to a “basic diplomatic presence.” About 1,400 people work at the US embassy, and the reduction will be “significant”, according to an unnamed US official contacted by Reuters.
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British Defense Minister Ben Wallace announced today that up to 600 troops will fly to Afghanistan to help British nationals and Afghan interpreters evacuate the country. The number of staff at the embassy in Kabul will be kept to a minimum, which will also be relocated to a safer location. According to Wallace, the first troops should arrive in Afghanistan by the end of the week. The evacuation affects a total of several thousand people.
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The Taliban is advancing rapidly
In less than a week, the Taliban seized 11 administrative centers from 34 Afghan provinces. He conquered two of them on Thursday – Herat and Ghazni. According to the BBC, the conquest of the strategically important city of Ghazni increases the likelihood that the Taliban will seize Kabul as well.
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The escalating violence and significant combat gains of the Taliban have already forced the United States, Germany, Britain and other countries to call on their citizens to leave Afghanistan immediately. This is less than three weeks before the planned completion of the US-led mission in the country.
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On Wednesday, an unnamed US Department of Defense official told Reuters that Kabul could isolate the Taliban within 30 days and possibly capture it within 90 days, according to the latest analysis by US intelligence services.
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